The Hindu : Sport : Saurav — the lone Indian in the fray

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Friday, Jun 15, 2007
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Saurav — the lone Indian in the fray

Special Correspondent

Parth Sharma flatters to deceive; Gaurav Nandrajog falls too

PHOTO: V. GANESAN

CRUISE MODE: Saurav Ghosal (right) had little difficulty in disposing of Naresh Kumar in the quarterfinals.

CHENNAI: The tempo rose and rallies prolonged but in the end, things panned out on expected lines with just one Indian remaining in the fray — none other than Saurav Ghosal, the top seed — as the semifinal stage was reached in the Chennai Open, the $6,000 PSA tournament here on Thursday.

For all the enterprise that Parth Sharma had shown on the first day, there was little he could do against a highly-skilled Dick Lau, the current Hong Kong National champion and seeded three here. True Parth began on a sensational note virtually running away with the first game and raising hopes of better things ahead.

But soon Lau settled down to a tight game, finding the drops and nicks with ease. The drives had purpose and before long the Indian had begun to lunge and stretch to his limits. Two quick games eluded Parth but that did not stop the Indian from trying hard.

The fourth game produced a close contest and Parth reserved his best in the end stages when he came back from `match ball' at 8-10 to force tie breaker. There the spark failed to trigger more in him.

Familiar end-script

Earlier Ghosal, taking a mild fever condition in his stride conceded one game to his young countrymate Naresh kumar but ensured he asked for no more. It was not a high voltage contest but Naresh tried his best to test his famed rival.

Initially the points went close but the experienced Ghosal knew when to make a quick wrap up and the story had the familiar end-script. Still Naresh needed to be complimented for winning that second game, showing his skills in `boasts' and placements. It was a gradual surge in the middle stage before racing away to grab the game.

Lively contest

The day's longest game involved two overseas players — Mohammed El Shorbagy of Egypt and Neil Hitchens of England. The contest went full distance, produced enough rallies and shots and even amusing arguments with the referee.

In the end one felt the refereeing could have been tighter. One notable decision that almost turned the match around came when Shorbagy was on `match ball' in the fourth game. What appeared a clear `stroke' was denied to the Egyptian and he dropped that game only to comeback strongly and win easily in the end.

Change of gears

Gaurav Nandrajog began with a bang against the second-seeded Hong Kong player Wai Hand Wong but the latter settled down well to open up the Indian. Where he seemed to struggle initially giving a flicker of hope for Gaurav, the Hong Kong player swiftly changed gears.

The cross-court drives and placements found the length and there were the lobs to the back court that unsettled the Indian. Unforced errors added to the worry of Gaurav as he went down fighting.

The results (quarterfinal): Saurav Ghosal (Ind) bt Naresh Kumar (Ind) 11-5, 5-11, 11-4, 11-6; Mohammed El Shorbagy (Egy) bt Neil Hitchens (Eng) 9-11, 11-5, 11-9, 11-13, 11-4; Dick Lau (Hkg) bt Parth Sharma (Ind) 5-11, 11-5, 11-4, 12-10; Wai Hang Wong (Hkg) bt Gaurav Nandrajog (Ind) 5-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-7.

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