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India rallies to beat Canada

Kunal Diwan

Surbhi clinches the decider after Dipika restores parity

— Photo: V. Ganesan

COMING GOOD: Surbhi Misra dropped the third game of the decider but closed it out in the fourth and clinched the match for India.

CHENNAI: A spot in the semifinals was India’s just reward for acing its first genuine assessment, against Canada, in the World junior girls’ team championship here on Thursday.

The host nation survived the loss of the first match to seal the tie 2-1.

India plays Hong Kong China on Friday while Egypt and the United States face each other in the other semifinal.

The last time India made it this far in the event was in 2003 in Cairo.

The final shove

With the mystically-charged bandana still in place, Surbhi Misra was the final shove that thrust India through on Thursday.

The Jaipur girl made light of surrendering a solitary game to thwart Jennifer Pelletier, after both teams were flush on 1-1.

“Being the decider, it was a pressure match and I had to steady myself after losing the third game to win the fourth,” said Surbhi afterwards.

Initial setback

Earlier, Anwesha Reddy played in patches, sailing and sputtering by turns against Samantha Cornett, whose pre and post-match stretching routine spanned almost as long as the match.

Playing after sitting out of the last two fixtures, Anwesha was all skill to the Canadian’s speed, at least during a stretch in the middle, when she nudged alongside (after losing the first) and surged to 6-1 in the third.

Anwesha won just four more points after that — two in the third game (to lose 8-11) and another two in the fourth game (2-11).

The climb out of a 0-1 pit was initiated by Dipika Pallikal, who was still not required to exercise the full functionality of her game in overcoming Canada’s best player Laura Gemmell.

“Hong Kong is a balanced team and there is little to choose between their top two players. It will be a tight match again,” said consultant coach Major S. Maniam of India’s semifinal prospects.

The US fights back

In other quarterfinal action, the United States rallied from a match down to eliminate England, while Egypt blanked a lackluster Malaysian side.

Hong Kong China put it across New Zealand to round up the final four.

The results:

Quarterfinals: USA bt England 2-1 (Amanda Sobhy lost to Kimberley Hay 8-11, 10-12, 9-11; Oliva Blatchford bt Millie Tomlinson 11-4, 11-9, 11-5; Julie Cerullo bt Rachael Chadwick 11-6, 11-8, 11-3).

Hong Kong China bt New Zealand 3-0 (Tsz Wing Tong bt Amanda Landers Murphy 7-11, 11-2, 11-5, 11-7; Tsz Ling Liu bt Lana Harrison 12-10, 11-9, 12-10; Ka Man Lee bt Emma Millar 11-7, 11-9).

Egypt beat Malaysia 3-0 (Nour El Sherbini bt Tan Yan Xin 9-11, 11-6, 11-2,. 11-1; Heba El Torky bt Low Wee Nee 11-5, 11-3, 11-5; Nour El Tayeb bt Nessrine Ariffin 11-1, 11-9).

India bt Canada 2-1 (Anwesha Reddy lost to Samantha Cornett 6-11, 11-6, 8-11, 2-11; Dipika Pallikal bt Laura Gemmel 11-8, 11-3, 11-9; Surbhi Misra bt Jennifer Pelletier 13-11, 11-8, 3-11, 11-6).

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