Chennai: Indian players stole the limelight with
unseeded Ravi Dixit defeating fourth seed Aqeel Rehman of
Austria and Gaurav Nandrajog scalping eighth seeded Baseem
Makram of Egypt in the pre-quarterfinals of the Indian PSA
Challenger Series No five here today.
Abhishek Pradhan almost upset compatriot third seeded
Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu but lost 11-7, 7-11, 11-8, 7-11,
8-11 in 44 minutes.
Dixit held seasoned Aqeel Rehman spellbound with several
variations in his game. Dixit won at 11-9, 9-11, 5-11, 11-9,
11-9 in 47 minutes.The decider was noteworthy for Dixit’s
exhibition of delectable drops and variations. He led 7-3 and
then 9-5 then yielded four points in a row before claiming two
points for the match.
In the match between Nandrajog and Makram, the Indian
won 11-8, 11-5, 11-5 in 30 minutes.
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However, Pradhan versus Sandhu match evoked greater
interest as the former was up to wearing down the favourite.
Current National Under-17 champion, Pradhan carried too many
guns against his more experienced compatriot through out the
match but lacked the final push in the decider, which he was
leading at 8-7 before going down to Sandhu.
Bureau Report
First Published: Wednesday, November 18, 2009, 22:08