The Hindu : Sport : Joshna enters final

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Oct 08, 2006
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Joshna enters final

CHENNAI: National squash champion Joshna Chinappa defeated sixth seed Dianne Desira to enter the final of the Berkshire Open in Massachusetts (U.S.A.) on Friday.

Joshna, who has been taken under the Mittal Champions Trust, which has enabled her to go for a personal coach, a former Egyptian international, defeated the Australian 9-1, 10-8, 2-9, 10-8 in 42 minutesof exciting contest.

Deceptive drops, tight lengths and effective cross-court strokes were the features of Joshna's game as she began on a confident note and wrapped up the first game.

She was up 8-0 in the next before Dianne clawed back and pushed the contest into a tie-breaker.

Joshna succeeded, but that was the moment when the Australian's fighting qualities surfaced. Bagging the third game easily, the Australia took up the challenge earnestly.

Like in the second game, Joshna ran up an early lead only to lose ground momentarily. Forcing the issue to the tie-breaker again the delicately balanced contest ended tamely with Dianne hitting the tin twice and giving up.

The first Indian to reach the final of a WISPA event, the eighth-seeded Joshna now faces top seed Sharon Wee of Malaysia, who defeated fourth seed Mexican Samantha Teran 9-3, 9-4, 9-6 in 35 minutes.

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