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| Joshna
leads India's charge |
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By Raju Chainani
Mid-day 12/7/2001
JOSHNA Chinappa spearheads
India's challenge at the World Junior women's squash championships
which begin at Penang on Sunday. The Chennai-based 15-year-old
brought glory to the country at the recent Malaysian and Singapore
Junior Opens. She won the under-17 at Kuala Lumpur and had a notable
double, the under-19 and under-17 at the Lion City.
Instead of lauding her
success, the Squash Racquets Federation of India (SRFI) served her a
show-cause notice asking how she had entered two events at
Singapore. Mumbai's Supriya Balsekar has been named as the number
three player for the world junior championship squad. |
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| Raring
for a crack |
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Mid-day 29/5/2001
By Raju Chainani
KUALA LUMPUR, May 29
TWO weeks of intensive
training for Team MID-DAY's junior squash players concluded at the
Lakeview Club yesterday. The squad has a day off today and then it's
time for the Malaysian Junior Open. Coach K H Ong was quietly
confident of a good showing from the Mumbai juniors.
Ong spoke to the players
individually and had a group session later in the afternoon. They
were all ears for a man who has commanded respect and been like a
father figure for them. Ong hosted a lunch for the parents and the
kids at the club. It's all been one happy family and the fortnight
has gone off very amicably. The juniors got together and invited Ong
for dinner. The surprise came in the form of a small present a
framed photograph of his son Ong Beng Hee sitting with world
champion Peter Nicol at a recent tournament. The coach was very
touched and has put up the photograph in his proshop. The juniors
have been advised on their kit and have listened to the coach's
advice. Ong has experienced the tough limes when his son Beng Hee
was coming up. Rackets and shoes cost a pretty penny, but for the
juniors Ong has gone out of his way to help them with discounted
prices, a gesture that has been much appreciated by the squad.
The proof of the pudding will
no doubt come over the next five days as the players participate in
Asia's biggest junior tournament. "Our aim is to make the
tournament better and larger than the British Junior Open,"
said Mary Ong, a senior member of the organising committee. The way
things have progressed in a matter of a year, this may well happen.
With the total entries being
in the region of 500, the organizers have planned to hold the
initial stages of the under-11 and under-13 events at the NSC Courts
in Jalan Duta, where many a major event has been staged over the
years. The under-15, under-17 and under-19 events are to be played
at the Astaka Centre. Efforts are on to use the Lakeview Club courts
as these are much closer and a final decision will be made later
today.
sports@mid-day. com |
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By
Raju Chainani
Mid-day 8-1-2001
NAISHAD
Lalwani upset top seed Vikram Malhotra to win the hoys under-13
title in the Air-India SRAM Squash satellite at the Bombay Gymkhana
glass-back courts. Lalwani, the number two seed, won 9-4, 5-9, 9-6,
9-1 with his front court game proving to he the key factor.
He
was helped by Malhotra's unforced errors but in fairness, it was the
better player who won on the day. Sharing the spotlight with Lalwani
was ten year-old Nikita Emanuel. Her 9-5, 9-6, 5-9, 9-7 win over
Shahnaz Dastur gave her the girls under-13 title.
It
was her never-say-die attitude that gladdened the hearts of a
knowledgeable audience. Natasha Lall was a member of Team MID-DAY
which trained with K H Ong at Kuala Lumpur last May. She has come up
well and it was her experience that saw her defeat Liana Deboo in
the girls under-17 final.
Deboo
led 7-3 in the opener before the US Club youngster look over the
reins and went on to win 9-7. 9-4. 9-2. In the boys under-11. Vir
Seth recorded his third successive Victory over Jay Dalai.
It
was 9-4, 9-3, 9-2 to Seth. His opponent was guilty of playing far
too many half-court balls and was never really got into the match.
Seth for his part, played sensibly and kept the hall in play,
something which his opponent would do well to learn.
Karanpal
Sethi wormed his way through to defeat Rishabh Singhvi 10-8. 9-7. 9
2 in the boys under-15. Singhi was tentative when it mattered and
must be kicking himself for losing the first and second games.
Sethi,
who plays at Otters Club, has been around for a while and had the
skill to keep his nose in front when it mattered. The boys under-17
final was a disappointment. Mihir Sheth played quite well in the
opener which he lost 9-6 to Supreet Singh but thereafter did not
trouble the scorers.
Singh
was another to have benefited from the Malaysian experience and has
shown he has the strength to come through a series of hard matches.
Mr.
Jitender Bhargava, who has just taken over as President of the
Air-India Sports Control Board, gave away the prizes.
The
event had attracted over 70 entries. Mention must he made of the
professionals who ran the event extremely well and were always on
hand to referee matches. The third leg of the satellite circuit
takes place from 26-28 January at the Willingdon Catholic Gymkhana.
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Indians
fare well
RAJU
CHAINANI
Mid-day 31-5-2001
KUALA
LUMPUR, May 31 INDIAN players had a good opening day at the Milo
Malaysian Junior Squash International.
Anurag
Gill had the rub of the green as he beat Hansul Hashimi of Malaysia
9-7, 7-9, 9-3, 9-10,10-8 in the boy's under-17, having squandered
his chance to close the match in the fourth game. Mumbai's
Bhaktiveda Dhaul was two games up against local lass Jonitha
Sumithiri but could not drive home the advantage. Her defeat in the
under-17 was more than compensated by the Chennai trio of Joshna
Chinappa, Vaidehi Reddy and Divya Rajan who dropped six points
between them as they cantered into second round.
Heavy
rain caused a two-hour delay at the Astaka Centre where the
under-15, under-17 and under-19 events were being held. The under-19
matches had to be switched to the NSC Courts in Jalan Duta where the
under-11 and under-13 were in action. Things were kept in control by
the organisers and despite the unforeseen delay, the day went of
smoothly.
Results:
Boys under-11 (1st round): Ramit Tandon (India) bt Raja Muhammad
Adarr (Malaysia) 9-0, 9-0, 9-0; Ishaan Balvani (Ind) bt Mok Wey Shem
(Mal) 9-0, 9-0, 9-0 Parth Jindal (Ind) bt J Umasuthan (Mal)
9-0,9-0,9-0 Boy's under-11 (2nd round): Adeep Arif (Mal) bt Ishaan
Balvani 9-6,7-9,9-2, 9-6 Jay Dalai (Ind) bt Gabriel Lim Weijie (Mal)
9-4, 9-6, 9-1.
Boys
under-13 (1st round): Mahir Singh (Ind) bt Mohd Izuddin (Mal)
9-3,9-6,9-5; Harinder Pal Singh (Ind) bt Mohd Afiq Syazwan (Mal)
9-0, 9-5, 9-0. Boy's under-13 (2nd round): Harinder Pal Singh (Ind)
bt Randy Lim (Mal) 3-9, 10-8, 9-6, 9-1; Jay Bhagat (Ind) bt Jasson
Tan (Mal) 9-0,9-0,9-1; Naishadh Lalwani (Ind) bt Azman Shaari (Mal)
9-1, 9-1, 9-1; Sandeep Jangra (Ind) bt Amir Arif Saufan (Mal) 9-1,
9-1, 9-2; Manek Mathur (Ind) bt Ong Man Chin (Mal) 9-0, 9-1, 9-2;
Vikram Malhotra (Ind) bt Low Chen Yen (Mal) 9-3, 9-0, 9-1;
JoranDiwan (Ind) bt Adrian Lee (Mal) 9-2,9-2,9-0; Heng Quo Lian
(Mal) bt Mahir Singh(lnd)4-9, 9-7, 9-6,9-5.Boy's under-15 (1st
round): Jai Singh Sekhon (Ind) bt Han Wei Kiat (Mal) 9-4,9-2,
9-5.Boy's under-15 (2nd round): Sadkj Madraswala (Ind) bt Presad
Pillai (Sab)9-0, 9-0, 9-3. Boy's under-17 (2nd round): Anurag GHI (Ind)
bt Gan Ghee Ming (Mal) 9-0,9-0,9-0; Supreet Singh (Ind) bt Jude Foo
Chen Horng (Sin) 9-0, 9-1, 9-1.Boys under-17 (3rd round): Anurag
Gill (Ind) bt Hansul Hashimi (Mal) 9-7,7-9, 9-3, 9-10,10-8; Mohd
Shahril (Mal) bt Vikas Jangra (Ind) 9-4,9-1,9-4; Supreet Singh (Ind)
bt Timothy Van Ewk (Aus) 9-0,9-0,9-2. Girls under-15 (1st round):
Liana Deboo (Ind) bt Jenna Foo (Mal) 9-0,9-2,9-7.Girls under-17 (1st
round): Joshna Chinappa (Ind) bt Yeo Chiou Giun (Mal) 9-0, 9-1, 9-1;
Jonitha Somithri (Mal) bt Bhaktiveda Dhaul (Ind) 7-9, 6-9, 9-6 9O,
9-0; Divya Rajan (Ind) bt Nik Macjan Hanum (Mal) 9-1,9-1,9-0;
Vaidehi Reddy (Ind) bt Lar Kan Lin (Mal) 9-0,9-0,9-2.
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Team MID-DAY downs Bukit Jalil
Sports School 8-5
RAJU
CHAINANI
Mid-day 27-5-2001
KUALA
LUMPUR, May 26 TEAM MID-DAY heat Bukit Jalil Sports School (BJSS)
8-5 in a hard fought three-hour encounter on Saturday. The tie,
which was held at the Commonwealth Games Squash Complex, where
squash made a spectacular debut in the multi-discipline event in
1998.
Jay
Bhagat blew hot and cold hut was good enough in the deciding game
against Calvin Lim. The Jindal trio of Ritesh Sharma, Vikas and
Sandeep Jangra were on song. Their colleague Sarvesh Chauhan had a
rest day.
On
this trip, these soil spoken boys from Vashind have made a deep
impression. Size did not matter as little Ishaan Balvani downed
Leong Wei Chien a stockily built junior. Manek Mathur also impressed
as he breezed past Wone Hou Chou, dropping just six points and
Naishadh Lalwani appeared to have an early afternoon appointment as
he trounced Presad Pillay 9-l, 9-1,9-0.
But
it wasn't all smooth sailing for the Mumbai squad. There was ,1
surprise defeat for Gautam Kalani and Sadiq Madraswala lost a hard
fought encounter to Romero Yap. The BJSS boy had a scoreline of 9-3
9-5 1-9 9-7. Service changed hands seven times on the last point and
it needed a forehand pass to end what had been a very engrossing
affair.
Team
MID-DAY reached the venue early and had s chance to see the
spectacular all-glass court where the main matches of the 1998 Asian
Junior Championships and subsequently the Commonwealth Game where.
They were awestruck by the surroundings and just abut the everyone
wanted to have a hit on the court, which is a permanent structure.
Many a flashbulb clicked and many a question was asked.
As
has happened in the previous lies, it was the juniors who referred
the matches. It was close to 1 pm when the last match ended and the
entourage made it's way to the BJSS canteen to join the rest for
lunch. This was the final warm-up for the Team Mid-day Junior Open,
which starts on Wednesday.
RESULT:
Jay
Bhagat bt Calvin Lim 9-1, 10-8, 4-9, 3-9, 9-3; Ishaan Balvani bt
Leong Wei Chien 9-4 9-7, 6-9, 9-6; Ritesh Sharma bt Mohd. Hakimi
9-3, 9-2, 9-7; Sandeep Jangra bt N. Zuhelmi 9-1, 9-3, 9-2; Naishad
Lalwani bt Presad Pillay 9-1, 9-1, 9-0; Manek Mathur bt Wone Hou
Chou 9-0, 9-4, 9-2; Priyanka Yadav bt Betrice Goh 9-0, 9-0 , 9-0,
9-1; Jay Dalal lost to Mohd Hisham 5-9, 7-9, 5-9; Vikram Malhotra
lost to Low Tsu Khian 7-9, 3-9, 4-9; Gautam Kalani lost to Mohd
Fadzly 9-10, 3-9, 0-9; Liana Deboo lost to Pang Khai Khim 9-10,
10-8, 2-9, 2-9; Sadiq Madraswala lost o Romero Yap 3-9, 5-9, 9-1,
7-9
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Joshna
seeded number one
RAJU
CHAINANI
Mid-day 22-5-2001
KUALA
LUMPUR, May 22 INDIA'S national women's champion Joshna Chinappa has
been given pride of place in the girls under-17 at the Mito All
Stars Junior Squash International which is scheduled to commence at
the Astaka Courts tomorrow.
Her
Chennai compatriot Vaidehi Reddy has been seeded to meet her in the
final whilst Mumbai's Supriya Balsekar has been placed in the 5-8
category. Thirty-two Indian players are participating in this
tournament which is Asia's largest. There is Indian representation
in nine of the 10 events, the girls' under-11 being the odd one out.
Alisha Mashruwala is seeded in the 5-8 bracket for the girls
under-13, Ramit Tandon has a similar placing in the boys
under-11 and Gautam Kalani has made it a menage et trios in the boys
under-15.
Kalani
is part of Team Mid-Day which is training with KH Ong at the
Lakeview Club in Subang Jaya. The coach seemed undaunted by the
seedings. "I expect them to do well in the tournament," he
said. "There should be a few surprises."
A
record 483 entries have been received for the tournament. The
overseas participation comes from eight countries Australia, India,
Japan, Hong Kong, Kuwait, Singapore, Netherlands and Pakistan.
Between them, they make up 125 entries with the largest contingent
coming from Down Under with 45 players. The hosts, who have 358
players spread over 10 events, have been given top billing in five
of them.
The
winners of the under-19, under-17 and under-15 stand to gain $1,000
each. Approximately $10,000 is on offer for these age-groups whilst
the winners of the under-13 and under-11 have attractive gifts as
prizes.
Seedings
(Malaysian unless stated) Girls
under-13 (31
entries): Nabilla
Ariffin, Low Wee Wern, Ashley Starr (Australia),
Sagita Paraminglam;
5-8 Alisha Mashruwala
(India), Tamryn
Beveridge (Australia),
Lara Miller
(Australia) and Pushppa Devi (Alisha is the lone Indian entry). U-15
(32 entries): Skye Miller (Australia) 2 June Tiong (Liana Deboo is
the lone Indian entry).
U-17
(32 entries): Joshna Chinappa (India), Vaidehi Reddy (India); 3-4
Sally Looi and Cherelle Kelly (Australia); 5-8 Naarah Rodwell
(Australia), Supriya Balsekar (India), Sahar Jasmina and Lim Yoke
Wah (Joshna Chinappa, Vaidehi Reddy, Supriya Balsekar, Shubika Bilka
and Divya Rajan are the Indian entries). U-19 (13 entries): Tricia
Chuah, Kirsty Knight (Australia) (Rachita Vora is the lone Indian
entry)
Boys
under-11 (57 entries): Spencer Davis (Australia), Ivan Yuen, Elroy
Leong and Kamran Khan; 5-8 Ramit Tandon (India), Wong Xi Liang
(Singapore), Kikoyu Itagati (Japan) and Vincent Chew (Ishaan Balvani,
Parth Jindal, Jay Dalai and Ramit tandon are the Indian entries).
U-13 (97 entries): Eivin Keo, Matt Reece (Australia) (Harinder Pal
Singh, Mahir Singh, Naishadh Lalwani, Sandeep Jangra, Joran Diwan,
Vikram Malhotra, Jay Bhagat and Manek Mathur are the Indian entries)
U-15
(80 entries): Ben Reece (Australia), Kapil Nesan; 5-8. Gautam Kalani
(India), Ali Bader Al Ramezi (Kuwait), Neil Hoevanaais (Netherlands)
and Tan Tze Hion (Ritesh Sharma, Sarvesh Chauhan, Saurav Ghoshal,
Sadiq Madraswala, Jai Singh Sekhon, Mrinal Todi and Gautam Kalani
are the Indian entries). U-17 (68 entries): Jhie Gough (Australia),
Dylan Bennett (Netherlands) (Anurag Gill, Vikas Jangra and Supreet
Singh are the Indian entries)
U-19
(34 entries): Mohd Azlan Iskandar, Mubashir Gul (Singapore) (Deepak
Yadav is the lone Indian entry).
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Great
Ghoshal
RAJU
CHAINANI
Mid-day 2-6-2001
KUALA
LUMPUR, June 2 SAURAV Ghoshal was India's star on quarter-final's
day at the Milo Malaysian Junior Squash International. His 9-1,
10-8, 9-2 win over the top seed Ben Reece (Australia) in the boy's
under-15 had a touch of class. Victories for Alisha Mashruwala
(girl's under-13), Joshna Chinappa and Vaidehi Reddy (girl's
under-17) gave India four players in their respective age group
semifinals.
Ghoshal
kept his cool under pressure in the second game and was good value
for his straight games win. He was cheered on by a vociferous Indian
entourage who ensured that everybody at the Astaka Centre knew of
their presence. Ghoshal's win was the only upset of the day which
saw the fancied players make their way through to the last four
stage. The 14-year-old Ghoshal trains with Dilip Tripathi at the
Calcutta Racket Club and has been a finalist at the junior nationals
on three occasions. Last year he had lost in the fourth round but
has come on a great deal since.
The
morning session had seen Jay Dalai (boy's under-11) and Harinder Pal
Singh (boy's under-13) being beaten. Dalai could not match strides
with the number two seed Mat Reece (Australia) but Harinder went
down with funs blazing. It was 9-5, 9-5, 9-2 to Reece but the scores
do not indicate how well the young sikh played. The Aussie's win was
some consolation for his elder brother's defeat at the hands of
Ghoshal.
Chinappa
is a warm favourite for the girl's under-17 title. But the manner in
which she played yesterday was reason for concern. She was good
enough to beat Lim Yoke Wah (Malaysia) in four games but needs to be
much sharper in the semis where she meets Australia's Cherelle
Kelly. Mashruwala booked her place in the last four of the girl's
under-13 with a comfortable 9-5, 9-5, 9-5 win over Australia's
Ashley Starr. The petite Murnbai damsel runs into Malaysia's Sagita
Paramalingam next. Mashruwala's Mumbai compatriot the third round of
the girl's under-15. She had top seeded Australia Skye Miller as her
opponent today and bowed
out gracefully
Results
(quarter-finals):
Boys
under-11:1-Spencer Davis (Aus) bt Aiman Aziz (Mal) 9-4,9-4, 9-0;
Vincent Chew (Mal) bt Mohd Kharul B Rahimi ( Mal) 9-5, 9-0, 9-1;
Kamran Khan (Mal) bt Lee Calvin ( Mal) 9-2, 9-4, 9-2; 2-lvan Yuen
(Mal) bt Jay Dalai (Ind) 9-4, 9-0,9-1.
Boys
under-13:1-Elvin Keo (Mal)
bt Tom Steward (Aus) 9-10, 9-3, 9-2, 9-5; Lim Lu Tjun (Mal) bt
Marcus Phua (Sin) 7-9. 9-3, 0-9,
10-8, 9-5; Jesmond Low (Mal) bt Mohd Asyraf Azan (Mal) 9-7,
9-7, 7-9, 6-9, 9-4; 2-Mat Reece (Aus) bt Harinder Pal Singh (Ind)
9-5, 9-5, 9-2.
Boys
under-15: Saurav Ghoshal (Ind) bt 1-Ben Reece (Aus) 9-1, 10-8,
9-2; Risto Krauss (Aus) bt Russell Wegner (Aus) 9-6, 9-6, 9-0; Mohd
Azfar Azan (Mal) bt Mohd Izam Mahazer (Mal) 9-4, 9-2, 9-4, 2-Kapil
Nesan (Mal) bt Mohd Nafizwan (Mal) 9-5, 6-9, 9-2, 9-1.
Boys
under-17: 1-Jhie Gough (Aus) bt Woo Yew Hong (Mal) 9-0, 9-4,
9-3; Dick Lau Siu Wai (HK) bt Mohd Shahril (Mal) 5-9, 9-1, 9-5, 9-7;
Timothy Arnold (Mal) bt Alasdair Alien (Aus) 9-0, 4-9, 10-8, 3-9,
9-0; 2-Dylan Bennert (Hol) bt Wong Kin Lee (Mal) 9-0, 9-6, 4-9, 9-2.
Boys
under-19: 1-Mohd Azlan Iskandar (Mal) bt Timothy Arnold (Mal)
9-2, 9-0, 9-1; Dylan Bennett (Hol) bt Marcus Yeap (Mal) 9-3, 9-2,
9-2; Kelvin Ho (Mal) bt Ziyad Tareq Al Owaish (Kuw) 4-9, 9-6, 5-9,
9-2, 9-2; Mubashir Gul (Sin) bt Michael Arcidiacono (Aus) 9-7, 9-0,
9-5
Girls
under-11: 1-Zulijah Azan (Mal) bt Heng Yi Lian (Mal) 9-2, 9-1,
9-0; Jeshila Maniam (Mal) bt Roobim Sattampalam (Mal) 9-1, 9-7, 9-4;
Chua Wen Ya (Sin) bt P Vanaja (Mal) 9-0, 9-2, 9-0; 2-Nesserine
Ariffin (Mal) bt Asami Ninomiya (Jap) 9-7, 9-1, 9-5.
Girls
under-13: 1-Alisha Mashruwala (Ind) bt Ashley Starr (Aus) 9-5,
9-5, 9-5; Kimberley Bessell (Aus) bt Sagita Parmalingam (Mal) 9-2,
9-5, 9-4; Low I Wee Wem (Mal) bt Pushppa Dewi (Mal) 9-7,9-2, 9-2;
2-Nabilla Ariffin (Mal) bt Lara Miller (Aus) 9-3, 9-4, 9-2.
Girls
under-15: 1-Skye Miller (Aus) bt Liana Deboo (Ind) 9-0, 9-4,
9-1; Munirah Arif Kor (Mal) bt Nora Ashikin (Mal) 9-1,9-0,9-2; Ho
Baoxia (Sin) bt Siti Munirh (Mal) 9-0, 9-5, 9-0; 2-June Tiong (Mal)
bt Tan Poh Yong (Sin) 9-5, 9-0,9-1.
Girls
under-17:1-Joshna Chinappa (Ind) bt Lim Yoke Wah (Mal) 9-0, 7-9,
9-1, 9-3; Cherelle Kelly (Aus) bt Delia Arnold (Mal) 10-9, 9-2,
9-10, 9-1; Sally Looi (Mal) bt Joanne Jee (Mal) 9-1, 9-4, 9-2;
2-Vaidehi Reddy (Ind) bt Sahar Jasmina (Mal) 9-4, 9-1,9-4.
Girls
under-19: 1-Tricia Chuah (Mal) bt Teng Ooi Ean (Mal) 9-1, 9-5,
7-9, 9-3; Georgina Davis (Aus) bt Jemma Saxby (Aus) 9-2, 9-0, 9-3;
Tracey Michell (Aus) bt Karen Lau Siu Ying (HK) 9-5, 9-5, 0-9, 2-9,
9-5; 2-Kristy Knight (Aus) bt Daniella Davis (Aus) 9-6, 10-8,9-2
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By
Raju Chainani
Mid-day 17-5-2001
Kaula
Lumpur, May 17 The sign outside the Lakeview Club squash courts in
Subang Jaya said, “Please do not disturb. Team Mid-day juniors are
hard at work,” Indeed they were. It was an early start this
morning with a three-kilometer run followed by court drills and
match play. Coach K H Ong broke them in gently after their arrival
on Saturday and has gradually built up the active level.
“We
have done 13 drills so far” said Maneck Mathur who is on his
second trip with Team MID-DAY,” Mr. Ong has been his usual
wonderful self,” The kids dote on the soft-spoken coach who has
proved his mettle. The outstanding performance of his son Ong Beng
Hee, currently ranked at number nine in the world, is proof of the
pudding.
“We
were hoping to meet Beng Hee,” said Vikram Malhotra, winner of the
under-13 title at the recent Otters Old Castle Open and one who has
come up a lot since his training here last year, “We follow his
progress and are very happy he is doing well.”
Not
to be outdone, the girls have got into the groove. There are four of
them-Priyanka Yadav. Shubika Bilka, Liana Deboo and Bhaktiveda Dhaul.
“It is very professional. It is tough but we are enjoying the
training,” said Priyanka Yadav, who has been given the additional
charge of being the team leader.
Friday
is the day of rest. The weather gods have been king and all going
well, there is a trip planned to Genting Islands for the day. The
team needs a day to recuperate before their weekend match against
the MPPJ juniors.
The
camaraderie with the local official is very good. On the 26th
Team Mid-day has a match against
the Bukit Jalil Juniors and the venue is the squash complex
in the Commonwealth Games arena. Squash apart, it’ll be an
experience for them to see the venue of the 1998 Games.
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Raju
Chainani
Mid-day 17-7-2001
PENANG:
Joshna Chinappa and Vaidehi Reddy provided the upsets in round two
of the ninth world junior women's squash championships. Both had
wins over players who were seeded in the 9-16 bracket.
Chinappa
started the ball rolling when she beat Dagrnar Feddern (Denmark)
6-9, 9-3, 9-0, 9-4 in 27 minutes. Reddy had a much rougher time and
needed to keep her cool under pressure in beat Milja Dorenbos
(Netherlands) 10-8,
9-6, 8-10, 9-4 in a 39-minute encounter.
However,
there was no such luck for Supriya Balsekar as she went our 10-9
9-4, 9-5 to Frances Ho (Hong Kong) in 28 minutes.
In
the third round, both have unseeded Australians as opponents.
Chinappa runs into Kasey Brown while Reddy takes on Felicity Goodall.
The Indian national champion had no business 10 lose the first game
against Feddern. She looked strong at 6-3 but there began a spell of
nine points in which she did little right. The pendulum had swung
and Chinappa was soon a game and 0-3 down. She was good enough to
rise to the occasion. A relentless attack followed, Feddern wilted
and the next 18 points went to the Indian. Chinappa soon put the
issue beyond doubt as she led 7-1 in the fourth and though Feddern
pur together a couple of winners, it was too late for any comebacks.
"I lost my concentration in the first game. There are no
excuses. I knew I had to set things in order. I started playing to
length and was able to cut down on the errors," Chinappa said.
This was a good result for the Indian number one. Her 18-year-old
opponent was a quarter-finalist in the European Junior Open and is
ranked at number two in Denmark. Feddern played the 1999 world
junior girls championships at Antwerp.
World
referee Chris Sinclair was in the hot seat. She had officiated
Vaidehi Reddy's match in the first round and had ended up with a
patch of wet paint on her trousers. Nothing so dramatic hap pened
this afternoon and the lady who had once been told by Jahangir that
"A woman's place should be at home" had a relatively
peaceful time. The Chennai lass led 4-2 and 7-5 in the opener, saw
her opponent fight back and reach game ball with a superb forehand
crosscourt and then came up with two superb winners to close the
game. Reddy was put to the test and showed plenty of character in
coining through. The Indians have their best two in the round of 32
and there is more than a ray of hope for them.
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