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Ghosal to meet Bhattacharya

Special Correspondent

Deepika in final; Joshna falters

— Photo: V. Ganesan

IMPRESSIVE DISPLAY: India’s Saurav Ghosal was too good for Australia’s Ryan Cuskelly in the semifinals on Saturday.

CHENNAI: The script went well for Dipika Pallikal, turned tricky for Saurav Ghosal and Ritwik Bhattacharya but spelt horror for Joshna Chinappa as Saturday proved an eventful day in the ICL-Chennai Open featuring both PSA and WISPA events.

After the way she had swept aside the top seed Christina Mak of Hong Kong, it was clear fifth seed Dipika Pallikal was in great touch. Further proof came on Saturday when she downed the lanky Dutch girl Orla Noom, the third seed, conceding just one game in the 49 minute contest. Barring those brief moments when hasty efforts courted mistakes, the Indian was well in control.

Match of the day

What, however, proved the contest of the evening was the semifinal between Ghosal and Ryan Cuskelly which saw the Indian come back from the brink to carve out a great win. A brief lay off in recent times had made the top seed Ghosal look a little rusty. The struggle he went through in the earlier rounds confirmed that.

From the initial signs, it seemed like the Australian south paw would run away an easy victor. Cuskelly had Ghosal on the run with his clean returns and deceptive placing.

Using the side wall boast, he had the top seed groping initially. To add to Ghosal’s discomfiture was the mistakes he committed in the forecourt with intended drops.

However, when the third game began, Ghosal was a different player. Suddenly, the shots began to work and the Australian began to crumble. Egged on by the small gathering, the Indian raced away to a dramatic win.

The other semifinal between second seed Bhattacharya and Egyptian Mohd Ali Anwar Reda saw similar drama. Losing the first two games, Bhattacharya hardly looked in the contest but another remarkable comeback started from there — a story, once again, of a player regaining his touch and changing the complexion of the match. Ghosal and Bhattacharya will now fight for the title. Second seed Joshna fell to fourth seed Annie Au of Hong Kong. She had lost to Au in a tournament recently. A steady player with strong basics, Au played to her strength and that undid the Indian.

Joshna was shaky but the occasional drives and deceptive returns did inspire confidence. Only, that was not to last long.

The results: Semifinals: PSA: Saurav Ghosal (Ind) bt Ryan Cuskelly (Aus) 10-12, 5-11, 11-5, 11-9, 11-7; Ritwik Bhattacharya (Ind) bt Mohd Ali Anwar Reda (Egy) 10-12, 7-11, 12-10, 11-7, 11-8. WISPA: Dipika Pallikal (Ind) bt Orla Noom (Ned) 10-8, 7-9, 9-5, 9-1; Annie Au (Hkg) bt Joshna Chinappa (Ind) 10-9, 9-1, 5-9, 10-9.

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