Indians put it across the Dutch

By Raju Chainani

PENANG, JULY 22. The Indian curry was pungent enough to melt the Dutch cheese in their opening Pool `B' encounter at the 9th World junior women's squash championships. The 2-1 scoreline should give India a place in the quarterfinals.

With the team it has India did enough to win but there is room for improvement as the bigger obstacles approach.

Joshna Chinappa gave India the lead with a 9-3, 9-5, 9-3 win over Dutch No. 1 Milja Dorenbos in 21 minutes. Rachita Vora led 6-0 in the opening game of her match against Orla Noon.

But the buck stopped there as Vora lost the next 22 points and her 9-6, 9-0, 9-3 defeat left the result hinging on the decider.

Fortunately, India has a very good player at number two and despite an initial hiccup which saw her trail 2-6 in the opener, Vaidehi Reddy had enough firepower to thwart Magriet Huisman.

The Chennai lass won 9-6, 9-1, 9-2 in 20 minutes and the Indian camp breathed sigh of relief. Reddy was lucky not to have been penalised for foot-faulting on four occasions but that is a minor issue.

Reddy was slow to pick up anything in the front- court but the Arnhem-based Dutch No. 2 was unable to drive home the advantage after having created the opening.

Joshna Chinappa went from 3-3 to 9-3 in one hand, closing the first game against Milja Dorenbos with a backhand pass which disappeared into the deep. Chinappa led 5-0 and 8-2 in the second, became a bit complacent and then came up with a backhand boast that left her opponent stranded. She wrapped up the third in eight minutes and frankly, the result had never looked to be in any doubt.

But, its third player must surely be a worrying factor for India. Rachita Vora had lost badly to Orla Noom in the individual event. The manner in which she started today suggested things could change but that was not to be. After leading 6-0 in the first game, Vora won just three of the next 29 points in this 19-minute match. It has put additional pressure on Chinappa and Reddy, a fact acknowledged by the Indian team manager.

``We took a gamble by playing Rachita today. She felt she would do better than she had done in the individual. We just don't have the depth and have to rely on our top two,'' said Rajiv Reddy.

India has one more tie in this pool. It plays England on Monday evening. Dutch coach Babette Hoogendoorn was disappointed with her team's display. ``Milja was nursing an injury. Orla played extremely well and kept her cool but Magriet lost her way after starting strongly. She was over-confident and he result speaks for itself,'' Hoogendoorn said.

The results: Pool A: (1) Malaysia bt (9) Canada 3-0 (Nicol David bt Jacqui Inward 9-0, 9-1, 9-2; Teng Ooi Ean bt Anne-Christine Lejole 9-0, 9-4, 9-5; Tricia Chuah bt Ruchika Kumar 9-6, 6-9, 9- 6, 9-5).

Pool B: (7) India bt (10) Netherlands 2-1 (Joshna Chinappa bt Milja Dornebos 9-3, 9-5, 9-3; Rachita Vora lost to Orla Noom 6-9, 0-9, 3-9; Vaidehi Reddy bt Magriet Huisman 9-6, 9- 1, 9-2).

Pool C: (3) Egypt bt Switzerland 3-0 (Omneya Abdel Kawy bt Manuela Zehnder 9-3, 9-2, 7-9, 9-6; Sara Badr bt Corinne Scarlato 9-0, 9-0, 9-1; Amna el Tarbolsy bt Melanie Scarlato 9-1, 4-9, 9- 4, 9-4). (6) Germany beat (14) Singapore 3-0 (Kathrin Rohrmuller bt Janice Wong 9-1, 9-4, 9-2; Jessica Reese bt Kar-Yan Koh 9-2, 9-2, 9-0; Sandra Zeimilis bt Pei-Qi Tan 9-7, 9-2, 9-5).

Pool D: (5) USA bt (12) Hong Kong 3-0 (Michelle Quibell bt Karen Lau 9-0, 9-7, 9-4; Kate Rapisarda bt Connie Choi 9-4, 9-4, 9-4; Amy Gross bt Frances Ho 9-3, 9-5, 9-1). (4) Australia bt (13) Ireland 3-0 (Lisa Camelliri bt Siobhan Parker 9-3, 9-0, 9-0; Georgina Davis bt Zoe Barr 9-0, 9-7, 9-1; Amelia Pittock bt Tanya Owens 9-3, 9-0, 9-1).

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