Chennai: It will be an all Indian affair in the finals of both the PSA and WISPA Indian Challenger event
here tomorrow as Siddharth Suchde will take on Harinder Pal
Singh in the men`s event, while Surbhi Misra and Anaka
Alankamony will lock horns in the women`s category.
Fourth seeded Suchde registered a win over Netherland`s
Dylan Bennett in the first semifinal, who conceded the match
citing stomach disorder. Bennett was trailing 8-11, 3-11 and
1-2.
Unseeded Harinder Pal Singh took just 45 minutes to
dispose off seventh seeded Anson Kwong 8-11, 11-7, 12-10,
12-10 in the second semifinal of the PSA Indian Challenger 3
event.
In the WISPA Indian Challenger 1 women`s event, Misra got
the better of Aparajitha Balamurukan 11-6, 9-11, 11-6, 6-11,
11-3 in 34 minutes, while Anaka did not exert much to bring
down Anwesha Reddy 11-7, 11-8, 11-7 in 23 minutes.
Amongst today`s matches, Harinder-Kwong match evinced
greater interest, especially when the Indian came back after
losing the first game 8-11.
Harinder played like a man possessed as he hammered his
drop shots close to the wall most often for winners. However,
in the fourth game, Harinder leading 9-7, allowed Kwong to get
back in to the match after he messed up an easy drop shot.
He upped his game after saving a game point and went on
to win the match on extra points.
In the first WISPA semi-final, Misra brought her
experience in the last two games when Aparajitha stuck a good
patch. The rivals were on level terms sharing four games each,
though Aparajitha had easily won the third but Misra returned
the compliment with greater felicity after which Aparajitha
threw in the towel losing the decider without much fight.
In the Anaka-Anwesha match, the latter was totally off
colour. Anaka, defending Asian Junior (under-15) champion,
played with greater comfort and always tested Anwesha on her
weak back hand.
In fact, Anwesha, who led 4-1 in the beginning of the
tie, failed miserably with at least four returns successively.
Anaka measured her cross court volleys to such perfection that
Anwesha was cursing herself. Throughout the match, Anwesha
remained error prone and lost in straight games.
Top Indian women player, Joshna Chinappa remains the lone
star to have won a WISPA title. After turning a pro in 2003,
Chinappa won her first of the three titles in Malaysia last
year.
Bureau Report