Date:18/07/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/07/18/stories/2006071811842000.htm

Sport - Sports : General

Sourav keeps Indian hopes alive

Sports Reporter

NEW DELHI: Rookie Shoaib Hassan rallied from a two-game deficit to defeat top seed Ritwik Bhattacharya 4-9, 6-9, 9-3, 9-7, 9-0 to book his berth in the men's final of the Northern India Open squash championship here on Monday.

Sourav Ghosal gave something to cheer for India later in the evening when he defeated World No. 48 Khayal Mohammad Khan in four games.

Pakistan's Shoaib took time to take control of the match. Bhattacharya won points with consummate ease initially, but allowed Shoaib to crawl back.

In a hard-fought third game, Shoaib clearly wore down his Indian opponent with long rallies. The Pakistani then squared the scores winning the fourth game, before blanking Bhattacharya in the decider.

All-Indian final

In the women's section, top seed Mekhala Subedar will take on Surbhi Mishra in an all-Indian final. Mekhala defeated Pakistan's Saima Shoukat 9-2, 9-1, 9-0, while Surbhi Mishra beat another Pakistani Mehwish 9-3, 9-0, 9-1. Surbhi also made it to the girls' under-17 final when an injured Urvashi Singh withdrew after winning her hard-fought quarterfinal against Tania Sibal in the morning.

The results: Men (semifinals): Shoaib Hassan (Pak) bt Basit Ashfaq (Pak) 4-9, 9-0, 9-1, 9-2;

Sourav Ghosal bt Khayal Mohammad Khan (Pak) 7-9, 9-3, 9-0, 9-7; Quarterfinals: Basit Ashfaq bt M. Shah Nawaz 5-9, 9-1, 2-9, 9-0, 9-0; Khayal Muhammad Khan bt Vikas Jangra 9-0, 9-7, 9-7; Saurav Ghosal bt Gaurav Nandrajog 9-3, 9-0, 6-9, 9-2; M. Shoaib Hassan bt Ritwik Bhattacharya 4-9, 6-9, 9-3, 9-7, 9-0.

Boys (semifinals): U-17: Gunraj Singh bt Sami Johnson 9-4, 9-1, 9-1; Raza Yaqab bt Paramjeet Singh 9-2, 9-1, 9-0; Under-15: Aruangzab Khan bt Noor Ali 9-7, 9-1, 9-0; Awais Rahim bt Sheikh Saqib 9-6, 9-7, 2-9, 2-9, 9-5.

U-13: Hamza Bukhari bt Arslan Bhatti 9-1, 9-0, 0-3 ; M. Haroon Rasheed bt Karan Thahryamal 9-2, 9-2, 7-9, 9-0.

U-11: Ali Bukhari bt Sobhit Chowdhary 9-0, 9-0, 9-0; Amaad Farid bt Ran Vijay Singh 9-0, 9-0.

Women: Semifinals: Surbhi Mishra bt Mehwish (Pak) 9-3, 9-0, 9-1; Mekhala Subedar bt Saima Shoukat (Pak) 9-2, 9-1, 9-0.

Girls: Semifinals: Under-17: Zoya bt Akriti Sehgal 9-2, 9-1, 9-1; Surbhi Mishra w.o Urwashi Singh; Quarterfinals: Urvashi Singh bt Tania Sibal 10-8, 9-2, 9-2; Aakriti Sehgal bt Anjani Singh 9-5, 9-5, 9-6.

U-15: Harita Omprakash bt Sachika Ingale 9-0, 9-0, 9-0; Roshna Mehboob bt Anna Batool 2-9, 9-5, 9-7, 9-6.

U-13: Sachika Ingale bt Vishruthi Sahni 9-1, 9-0, 9-7; Krishna Thapa bt Tanvi Khanna 9-0, 9-0, 9-0.