Sport - Squash

Sweet revenge for Ritwik Bhattacharya

— Photo: K. Pichumani

CHAMP: Ritwik Bhattacharya prevailed over Saurav Ghosal to take the trophy.

CHENNAI: An old rivalry was renewed and refurbished on Saturday as Ritwik Bhattacharya carved out a five-game win over Saurav Ghosal in the Indian Challenger-PSA final. The triumph was sweet revenge for Ritwik who had gone down to Saurav in four tight games in the final of the ICL-Chennai Open in July.

It was apparent within the first few rallies on Saturday that neither player could expect the cakewalk they had been accustomed to over the past few days; nay, the final promised more than mere casual hitting with the contestants more or less equally matched and equipped with some basic grounding on the professional tour.

The opener was off to a dramatic start as Ritwik hammered one just above the tin on the third point and was distraught when the referee called it out.

His protests led the three-referee panel to change its decision to “ball was good”, before Saurav joined the ranks of the disgruntled and let known his displeasure at the revoked point. Caught between a rock and a hard place, the panel chose to tread the path of safety and called for the point to be replayed.

The game continued on even keel and Ritwik, showing no signs of the shoulder injury that has hampered his progress of late, skimmed the surface of the sidewalls with his backhands and deprived Saurav of the space required to play his shots. A couple of loose forehand flicks by Saurav that clattered into the tin at 9-9 handed the first game to Ritwik.

Not quite used to losing games, especially on home turf, Saurav had a rethink of strategy in the second. He harnessed the three D’s (delay, deception and doggedness) and was helped by no less than five strokes that were awarded to him to square the match 1-1.

The third game, too, went the way of the top-seed, facilitated by conservative, corrosive stroke play that ate into and snuffed out the power in Ritwik’s cross-court bombshells.

But unlike the tireless ‘Energiser Bunny’ he resembles on court, Saurav ran out of steam on the home stretch. After long rallies at the fag end of the hotly contested fourth game, Ritwik flummoxed him with two shimmying drop shots that were conjured out of nowhere and all eyes turned towards the decisive fifth.

The ultimate game witnessed another change of ploy. While Saurav appeared to be a shade slower and hung around the hind court, Ritwik prowled the ‘T-line’ like a tennis player whacking volleys at the net.

The lead changed hands several times and the score settled precariously on 9-9. A point each for either player made it 10-10, before Ritwik pieced together two points for his first 1.5 Star title.

Richer by $2,850 and gaining 225 points, Ritwik later said: “My recent victory against World No. 11 Mohd. Azlan in a tournament in Mumbai gave me a lot of confidence ahead of this event. Saurav was the crowd favourite, so I had to start on the right foot by winning the first game.”

The result (final): Ritwik Bhattacharya (Ind) bt Saurav Ghosal (Ind) 11-9, 5-11, 4-11, 11-8, 12-10.

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