India reach finals of World Junior squad at Chennai

Chennai: Indian squash player Ramit Tandon thrashed higher-ranked Geoffrey Demont of France in a crucial tie to help India reach the finals of the Chennai Open World Junior Cup on Saturday.

World number 384 Tandon beat Demont 11-5, 6-11, 11-2, 14-12 after Dipika Pallikal levelled the score by winning the second tie following Ravi Dixit`s loss in the first. India thus set up a title clash with favourites Egypt at the Express Avenue "Mall" tomorrow. Watched by a goodly crowd with the score levelled one-all following Dipika`s victory in the second game, Tandon raised his game and dished out almost all shots in the book to get the better of world ranked 140 Demont. Starting off in a commanding manner to lead with a first game 11-5 verdict, Ramit lost the second 6-11 but taught a few lessons to a more experienced Geoffrey with delectable drops and boasts. The manner in which he pinned Geoffrey to the base line most often and then controlled the game from the front was eloquent in his thoughtful planning. Thus, Ramit won the match at 11-5, 6-11, 11-2, 14-12. Being down 0-1 after Dixit`s 6-11, 11-6, 6-11, 7-11 loss to Lucas, Dipika meant business from the beginning in crushing Chloe Mesic 11-3, 11-3, 11-5. Dipika was at her ease and proved her class with variety of strokes and her measured drops stood out. Earlier in Lucas-Ravi match, the latter was strong in all departments of the game and particularly the length that he played on his forehand and the cross court shots earned many points and applause from strong crowds. Losing the first game at 11-6, Ravi was not perturbed but came back strongly to return the compliment. He ran up to a 7-3 lead and was serving 10-6. Here he lost his concentration and failed to return an easy ball but then managed to win the game on his third game point at 11-8. In the third game, Lucus took a 7-4 lead before winning the game to lead 2-1 but in the fourth Ravi indulged in keeping up to long rallies and then match Lucas for each point. However, Ravi, who led 7-6, yielded room for Lucas to gain two points to lead 8-6. He then changed his game plan and shifted gears without any change in his aggression before winning the match. Other Results: Semi final: [1] EGYPT bt [2] ENGLAND 2-1 (Marwan El Shorbagy bt Charles Sharpes 11-7, 12-14, 11-4, 11-6, Nour El Tayeb lost to Emily Whitlock 8-11, 10-12, 9-11, Karim Abdel Gawad bt Declan James 11-7, 11-8, 11-9. Placing matches: 5th-8th: [5] AUSTRALIA bt [7] MALAYSIA 3-0 (Jamie McErvale bt Affeeq Abedeen Ismail 9-11, 11-9, 11-5, 13-11, Sarah Cardwell bt Tan Yan Xin 11-6, 12-10, 11-9, Walter Koteka bt Sanjay Singh 11-6, 11-6, 11-9. [6] HONG KONG CHINA bt [8] GERMANY 2-1 (Yeung Ho Wai bt Valentin Rapp 11-9, 11-9, 11-6, Karman Siu lost to Annika Wiese 10-12, 9-11, 11-8, 11-8, 9-11, Wong Chi-Him bt Sven Lemmermann 11-5, 11-9, 11-5. PTI