Joshna Chinappa notches Winnipeg Open title

Winnipeg (Canada): Veteran Indian player Joshna Chinappa lifted her maiden WSA World Tour title with the Winnipeg Winter Club Open trophy after beating Egypt`s Heba El Torky in a hard-fought final here.

The fourth-seeded Indian triumphed 3-2 (11-13 11-8 11-5 3-11 12-10) in a see-saw battle. The world number 27 Chinappa rallied after losing the opening game which was dominated by Heba. The Indian raced to an 8-3 lead in the second game before pocketing it easily. She built on the advantage by claiming the third game as well before Heba roared back in the fourth. The Egyptian`s fightback made the fifth game an exciting affair in which momentum kept swinging both ways. Chinappa had the slight early advantage and she took a 7-6 lead but Heba clinched six straight points to make it 10-7. But just when it seemed that Heba would walk away with the title, Chinappa got her act together and reeled off five back-to-back points to quite literally snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Chinappa`s triumph marks the second consecutive year of an Indian winning the trophy with Dipika Pallikal being the one to clinch it before her.