Christna vanquishes Vicky

By S.R. Suryanarayan

CHENNAI, AUG. 8. A determined Christna Mak of Hong Kong played to a plan and brought about the first upset, beating fifth-seeded Vicky Lankester of England in straight games, and advanced to the quarterfinals of the WISPA Indian squash Open 2001 at the SDAT- India Cements Academy courts here on Wednesday. Not a stranger to the city, having played in this tourney here two years ago, when she did not progress much, the 23-year old Christina, the number two player of Hong Kong, realised that she needed to control the pace against Vicky.

``Even though I am playing her for the first time, I felt she likes pace and so I planned to slow down the game and vary the returns, up and down'', a smiling Christna said after her successful ploy.

Though stronger in built and faster on court, Vicky found herself foxed by the delicate placings close to the wall. Falling to unforced errors often, the seeded girl looked in trouble right from start and it was only in the third game that she seemed to get into the groove, from the way she found the area above the `board' with regularity. Jumping to a 7-4 lead, the English girl seemed on course for a fightback but that was when her opponent showed resilience and tenacity to regain ascendancy. Forcing the issue to extra points, Christna managed to grab the game in a close finish. A slip there could have brought about different tale, given the way Vicky had tried a comeback.

Even as Christna scripted the upset, yet another seed, No. 7, Eman El Amir from Egypt wriggled out of trouble against the Belgian player, Kim Hannes. Starting with a flourish, Kim blanked Eman in the first game and was on the verge of taking the second too, leading 8-2. But that was when the contest underwent a transformation. Lighter on her feet, the Egyptian clawed back with a flurry of strokes, near and crosscourt. The tall Belgian began to run out of steam and even if she fought back, the Egyptian won the crucial points. From there Eman was a different player, though her tendency to look inconsistent at times prolonged the contest before the Belgian lost in a close finish.

The results (pre- quarterfinals): Tricia Chuah (Mal) bt N.G. Elise (HK) 9-3, 9-0, 9-6; Sharon Wee (Mal) bt Karen Morrissey (Aus) 9-7, 9-2, 2-9, 9-2; Christna Mak (HK) bt Vicky Lankester (Eng) 9-3, 9-4, 10-9; Eman El Amir (Egy) bt Kim Hannes (Bel) 0-9, 10-9, 10-9, 9-7.

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