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SINGLES EVENT

TEAM RESULTS

Boys FINAL
Bilal Zaman (2) (Pakistan) beat Ali B. Al Ramezi (2) (Kuwait) 4-9, 9-1, 9-7, 9-7 (63)
Amir Atlas Khan (1) (Pakistan) lost to Abdullah Al Mezayen (1) (Kuwait) 7-9, 4-9, 6-9 (39)
Aquib Hanif (3) (Pakistan) v. Salem F. Mohammad (3) (Kuwait) 9-3, 9-7, 9-7 (52)
PAKISTAN beat KUWAIT 2-1

Girls  FINAL
Chiu Ka Kei (2) (Hong Kong) beat Low Wee Wern (2) (Malaysia) 9-3, 8-10, 5-9, 9-2, 9-3 (62m)
Annie Au (1) (Hong Kong) beat Sally Looi (1) (Malaysia) 10-8, 9-5, 9-3 (45m)
Joey Chan (3) (Hong Kong) lost to Nabilla Ariffin (4) (Malaysia) Walkover
HONG KONG beat MALAYSIA 2-1

FULL RESULTS
 

SINGLES EVENT

TEAM RESULTS

Girls Semi-Finals

SINGAPORE lost to MALAYSIA 0-3

HONG KONG beat INDIA 2-1

Boys Semi-Finals

PAKISTAN BEAT INDIA 2-1

KUWAIT BEAT HONG KONG 2-0

FULL RESULTS

Indians have to do
it the hard way ...

The host nation was celebrating ‘Republic Day’ but the half a dozen Indian boys and girls in action in their round robin matches did not live up to the expectations failing to weave the home advantage in their favour in the 12th Asian Squash Junior Team Championship here today.


Malaysia win crucial clash
Defending champions, Indian women suffered at the hands of Malaysia (1-2) and set up a semi final clash against top seeded Hong Kong. Had they won today, India would be playing Singapore in the last four, which is not considered such a hard prospect, but now the semi-finals are India v Hong Kong and Malaysia v Singapore in tomorrow's semi-finals.

Playing their second match in four-team Group-B, British Open champion, Joshna Chinappa faltered (like in the Individual final against Annie au of Hong Kong) lost the first two games against Malsyaia’s top rung player, Sally Looi. It was a match between the only two WISPA stars from the Asian continent.

Looi kept up her fast paced game, taking the first two 9-5 and 9-1. The third was a case of neck and neck fight for points but Joshna, equipped with more skills proved her superiority by clinching the game 9-5. She was all the way leading in the fourth before equalising the game score to 2-2. Joshna was leading in the fifth too, but the Malaysian was gritty in matching her rival up to a point but the Indian was pulled away for a 9-4 win and the match.

Joshna was seen crying in public soon after trooping out of the court triumphantly. Perhaps, Joshna let the emotion get to her after a realisation of her mistakes.

After 14-year old Anvesha Reddy, ranked third in India, lost her match to Malaysia’s fourth seeded Nabilla Ariffin 3-9, 9-2, 0-9, 0-9 in 40 minutes, Joshna’s win over Sally Looi put India on an even keel.

In the decider, Dipika Pallikal, another up and coming Indian, flattered to deceive, going down to second seeded Malaysian, Low Wee Wern 5-9, 9-3, 9-2, 6-9, 0-9 in 48 minutes. Dipika did play to her potential. In fact, she displayed tremendous on-court maneuverability until the decider. Dipika lost the first but exhibited her skills to great measure in claiming the second and third games with confidence. Leading 3-0 in the fourth, Dipika went in to the slumber and never woke up and thereby made India’s chances of retaining the title a difficult proposition.

Indian boys leaving it late
It was the same story in the boy’s section with India losing to Kuwait 1-2. Now India is forced to win against Singapore in their last league match tomorrow morning to remain in the running. Pakistan, who beat Hong Kong tonight 3-0 without too much exertion , play Malaysia tomorrow morning.

Hong Kong, with wins over Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Iran finished their league engagements with three wins and a loss against Pakistan.

In the India-Kuwait match, after Ayappan Parthiban lost to Salem F.Mohammad 5-9, 1-9, 1-9, India number one, Saurav Ghosal steamrolled Abdullah Al Mezayen 9-1, 9-2, 10-8 but Sandeep Jangra, who trailed by two games, led 5-0 in the third before surrendering the initiative losing to Ali B.Al Ramezi 2-9, 4-9, 7-9.
  

SINGLES EVENT

TEAM RESULTS
  
Boys - Pool 'A' -
PAKISTAN beat SRI LANKA 3-0
MALAYSIA beat SRI LANKA 3-0
HONG KONG beat IRAN 3-0
HONG KONG lost to PAKISTAN 0-3

Boys - Pool 'B' -
KOREA lost to SINGAPORE 0-3
INDIA lost to KUWAIT 1-2

Girls - Pool 'A' -
SINGAPORE lost to HONG KONG 0-3

Girls - Pool 'B' -
INDIA lost to MALAYSIA 1-2
KOREA lost to SRI LANKA 1-2

FULL RESULTS
 

 

ASF Elections Meanwhile, information trickled in to convey that it is going to be smooth sailing for the incumbent office bearers of the Asian Squash Federation. According to official sources, the ASF General body tomorrow morning is to vote, a unanimous one, in favour of retaining the same team for another four years. This means that Mr N.Ramachandran will enjoy a second term of four years with his compatriots Mr.Srivatsan Subramaniam, as Secretary and Olympian in Hockey, Mr.Muneer Sait, as Treasurer besides Mr.Yousef Hussien Mohsen (Kuwait), Mr.David Mui (Hong Kong) and Pakistan’s Qamar Zaman as Vice Presidents.

SINGLES EVENT

TEAM RESULTS

Boys - Pool 'A' -
IRAN lost to MALAYSIA 0-3
SRI LANKA lost to HONG KONG 0-3
IRAN lost to PAKISTAN 0-3
MALAYSIA lost to HONG KONG 1-2

Boys - Pool 'B' -
KOREA lost to INDIA 0-3
SINGAPORE lost to KUWAIT 0-3

Girls - Pool 'A' -
PAKISTAN lost to SINGAPORE 1-2
HONG KONG beat PAKISTAN 3-0

Girls - Pool 'B' -
KOREA lost to MALAYSIA 0-3
SRI LANKA lost to INDIA 0-3
MALAYSIA beat SRI LANKA 3-0
INDIA beat KOREA 3-0

FULL RESULTS
 

Joshna plays the
game of her career
Eswar Ramachandran
on Day FOUR of the Championships

British Open Champion, Joshna Chinappa of India, played the game of her career to retain the Asian Junior Women title from the jaws of defeat beating Hongkong’s Annie Au 5-9 3-9 9-0 9-5 9-3 in 54 minutes.

Contrary to expectations, Joshna had to bring in her resources and needed to be more focussed after dropping the first two games.

Annie Au bestowed with great power on her forehand time and time again to trip Joshna in the first two games, scoring winners from both front and back courts. Au led 6-4 and then 7-5 before claiming the two points for the first game.

In the second too, Annie led 3-0 and then came up with three nick shots for 8-3. Here Joshna saved game point once before missing with an easy return.

There was a total transformation in Joshna’s game in the third onwards. She shed her casual approach and was more focussed on the court. Her strategy to avoid playing to Annie’s forehand helped her to take control of the game.

In fact, Joshna’s deep cross court shots, shaping them to go down the backhand line, helped her take a 7-0 lead and then solidly stood in front for lovely boasts.

Joshna started off scoring with a powerful forehand smash and was found to be her normal self. The British Open champion’s low down-the-line forehands and stretched backhand drops were eye catching. Once she scored a winner of Annie’s triggered boast and that gave enough indications of Joshna winning the game.

Though Joshna led 6-2, Annie never relented in counter attacks and excelled with good drops and scored a point with a stroke and then scored two more points through an effective cross court and a careless error by Joshna.

But Joshna involved Annie in long rallies and then waited for the error. For the first time in the match, Joshna surged to the front court for a boast on the right court with Annie stuck on the left (7-5). Annie gave away the remaining two points sending the ball on the tin.

In the decider Joshna was more innovative but Annie was more agile and fit. Service changed many times before Joshna could open her account and rose to a 3-1 lead. A lovely boast, a deceptive drop and a boast from front saw Joshna pulling away to 6-2 and then was awarded a stoke. Joshna served for the match at 8-2 but the never-say-die attitude of Annie delayed the proceedings. Annie saved two match points through a nice drop shot and a forehand drive but then Joshna’s lengthy return was too difficult to be handled by Annie. Joshna trooped out of the court triumphantly after a superb cross court forehand had given her the match

Brilliance to the fore ...

It was a day when brilliance came to the fore as top seeded Amir Atlas Khan of Pakistan quelled the challenge of his Indian rival, Saurav Ghosal, 9-1 4-9 9-3 9-3 in about 45 minutes to lift the Asian Junior title.

Ghosal played his gallant Indian heart out, but was unable to hold the onward stride of Atlas Khan beyond a point. The young Indian showed glimpses of recovery, after perhaps being overawed by the situation, to claim the second game but might not have won the match at all for the innumerable unforced errors in yielding the initiative to Atlas Khan.

Atlas Khan should be credited for his abilities in going for retrievals and had the advantage over Ghosal with his sheer length of shots. The Pakistani had Ghosal cramped to the left wall on the both front and back courts through his back hand drives and the Indian could not respond with returns, not even once in the match.

However, Khan was in his confident self throughout the match but committed unforced errors on four occasions while serving for the match at 8-2. The Pakistani gave a sigh of relief having won the match when after a long rally, Ghosal from backcourt sent the ball crashing into the tin.

Otherwise, Atlas Khan played a near flawless game and was totally fit throughout the match, with the Pakistani ahead of Ghosal in all respects including skills and technical knowledge of changing his game plan to his advantage.

Eswar Ramachandran
  

Joshna Chinappa

Annie Au

Joshna Chinappa of India is just a step away from retaining her coveted Asian Junior title. Tomorrow, top seeded Joshna, the British Open (under-19) champion takes on Annie Au of Hong Kong in the final.

Today, Joshna drove home the point that she is Prima Dona and stands tall amongst the competitors at this level in this continent.

Malaysia’s Delia Arnold took to the all glass centre court at the ICL Academy and after 27 minutes offered her right hand to the champion in the making. Joshna, drubbed her in straight games of 9-3, 10-8, 9-6.

In the other semi final, second seeded Annie Au toyed with Sally Looi (5/8) the only other WISPA member like Joshna for an easy 9-3 9-3 9-1 win. In none of the three games could 18-year-old Sally Looi could the hard hitting Annie.

Joshna, endowed with so much power play, has variety in her armour. She was too casual in the second game and also midway in the third against Arnold. But there was no doubt in the minds of sparse crowd, more of the competitors than the usual Indian audience, that Joshna, rated as number one in the Asian continent, would be surprised. For Joshna tried a few innovations in her game, as she divulged after her deserved win over the Malaysian.

After claiming first game in quick time, Joshna lapsed in concentration. However, credit should be given to Delia for effectively changing her strategy. The Malaysian slowed down the pace to some extent and started pushing Joshna to the back court and then went for delicate drops and also drop volleyies to win points. Thus, she rose to a 6-0 lead and Joshna served 6-8 at one stage.

Here, Delia hit the tin once and missed an easy return but did not keep up the momentum. Joshna served for the game and Delia crashed the ball down to give the game. No doubt, Arnold is equipped with great skills and should blossom in a short time.

In the third too, Arnold went on to lead 6-2 but only to be pushed to the wall again. Coming on to serve 2-6, the Indian ace came up with excellent boasts (twice) and a backhand cross made her level 6 all. Joshna’s game plan forcing her rival to play up front for returns with controlled pace and then making the Malaysian run up and down frequently for the ball, yielding the desired results.

Top Seeds into Boys Final

Seeds lived up to expectations in the boys semifinals as Amir Atlas Khan of Pakistan takes on second seeded Saurav Ghosal of India in the finals of the 12th Asian Squash Championships here at the India Cements Academy.

Both the semi final matches were billed to be tough contests but on the contrary, Ghosal made mincemeat of his tall and bulky opponent Bilal Zaman of Pakistan to clinch the match 9-2 9-0 9-2 in 36 minutes.

The score line of the other semi final may not indicate the fight put up by Abdullah Al Mezayen of Kuwait against Atlas Khan, the up and coming top seeded Pakistani, who dropped the first game but showed grit and determination to walk out triumphantly at 5-9, 9-3, 9-3, 9-6 in 46 minutes.

Going by the performance of the finalists, one is assured of a thrilling encounter for the title tomorrow.

Ghosal played flawless squash and in fact started the match at a scorching pace and maintained it throughout since Zaman rarely shed his inaccuracies. It was eyeful to the spectators as Ghosal psyched the Pakistani time and again in all three games. The way he exhibited control of pace and selection of shots besides variety in stroke-making proved his rise in the game.


Tough Time for Atlas
Top seeded Amir Atlas Khan had a tough time against a fighting Abdullah Al Mezayen, who did not give away anything too easily.

The Kuwaiti, a stroke maker, was brilliant in patches but he paid the penalty for showing urgency for finishes. On the other hand Khan was elegant and came up skillfully most often on rallies to earn points. In fact, Khan controlled the match throughout but Mezayen, a southpaw, fell prey to the Pakistani's trap, making all sorts of mistakes. Moreover, Mezayen looked to be tired in the fourth game.

After taking two points in the first game Atlas lost five in a row but eventually caught up at 5-all. Mezayen played some beautiful drops and then wrapped up the game without losing his serve.

The second game went neck to neck till three all. Here, Khan’s gameplan to force his rival to run end to end paid off. Thus, Khan led 7-3, lost his serve only once before clinching the game in ten minutes.

It was the same story in the third game too as it went closely till 4-3 in favour of Khan, who came strongly to lead 7-3. At this stage, Khan shifted his game plan like in the second game and lost his serve once before winning the game for a 2-1 lead.

In the fourth, Khan led throughout and rarely gave any chance to Mezayen to come to terms. Here, Khan came up with superb nicks and drop shots after making Mezayen to shift from zone to zone.

Eswar Ramachandran
 

Indian Team in Chennai

Joshna the Sole Home Hope
Eswar Ramachandran
on Day TWO of the Championships

In the girls challenge, India fielded half a dozen players competitiors, but Joshna Chinappa remains the lone survivor with the five others shown the exit.

With the last four stages having been reached, the defending champion remains India’s lone hope for a medal as she found her smooth passage in to the girls semi finals to be played tomorrow.

Top seeded, Chinappa, who is yet to be stretched in her three earlier matches so far, did not strain much before beating Low Wee Wern of Malaysia at 9-2 9-7 9-2 in 31 minutes, and takes on Delia Arnold of Malaysia in the semi finals. Arnold had to call on all her resources before downing Hongkong’s Joey Chan 9-4 4-9 9-10 10-9 10-8 in 83 minutes.

The other semi final will be between Sally Looi (Malaysia) and second seeded Anne Au of Hong Kong.

In their respective quarterfinal matches, Looi took 45 minutes to beat the best of Chiu Ka Kei of Hongkong 9-0, 9-3, 4-9, 7-9, 9-1, while Anne Au scored a straight forward 9-2 9-4 9-2 win over Dipika Pallikal of India.

It is heartening to note the rise of standards amongst the Asian players over the last two years. It was also enthralling to have watched two matches involving Malaysians and players from Hongkong and these two were the toughest ties that were witnessed so far, with Arnold and her malaysian compatriot Looi causing minor upsets in getting past Joey Chan and Chiu Ka Kei to make the semi final grade.

Delia wins a thriller
In the match between Arnold and Chan, the Malaysian played too many unforced errors and clear winning opportunities were hit onto the tin too often. The whole match was replete of rallies and in the second and third games, Chan held on to her advantage to lead 2-1. The fourth game also Arnold was found wanting and looked to be under pressure. Thus, she slipped from an 8-7 lead and after service changing hands thrice, Chan made it 9-8 but Arnold managed to win the game scoring two points without losing service.

The fifth game also proved to be a close one after Arnold brought in every sinew to bridge the gap 3-6 after trailing 0-6. With service changing once, Arnold maintained the momentum to level the score 6-6 but Chan went up for the match ball (8-7) only to surrender the initiative. Arnold took advantage of the situation being at 8-all and then never looked back before winning the game and the match.

Looi and her rival Kei were involved in a fast paced match which went in to full length but the fitness levels of Looi stood her in good stead to win the match.

Eswar Ramachandran
 

FULL RESULTS

Indian Team in Chennai

FULL RESULTS

Quarter-Finals:

Girls:
1* Joshana Chinappa v
5/8* Low Wee Wern (MAS)

5/8* Delia Arnold (MAS)v
3/4* Joey Chan (HKG)

3/4* Chiu Ka Kei (HKG) v
5/8* Sally Looi (MAS)

9/16* Dipika Pallikal (IND) v
2* Annie Au (HKG)

Joshna aims for another
Asian title  ... Interview

Hong Kong's Annie Au

Rahmat Khan, Pakistan's
junior coach ...