The Hindu : Sport / Squash : India tops group

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Aug 05, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Sport

Sport - Squash

India tops group

CHENNAI: India topped Pool ‘E’ at the World junior men’s squash championship in Zurich after its 2-1 win over U.S. on Sunday. The result was of no consequence as both teams have qualified for the last 16 phase.

According to information received here, the final pool match against USA proved a close encounter.

Perfect start

Ravi Dixit gave the team a perfect start defeating Thomas Mattson in straight games. Taking control of the game early, Ravi did not give a chance to his opponent. Vikram Malhotra next went down fighting to USA’s No. 1 player Todd Harrity. Todd had beaten Vikram on two previous occasions in junior events but this meeting almost went in the Indian’s favour.

Cliff hanger

Losing the first game tamely, Vikram clawed back to level the scores. But his progress ended there for even the third game was a cliff-hanger with both players level at 8-8. Vikram clipped the top of the tin twice at that moment to give the advantage away and Todd never looked back to level the tie 1-1.

In the decider against Alex Domenick, Aditya Jagtap was aggressive and raced to an 8-1 lead against one of the quickest players in this tournament. Unfortunately it was a short lived joy as Alex fought for every point and picked up every ball to shock the Indian 10-8.

Though Alex’s touch remained firm, Aditya was able to grab the second only to lose the third.

Aditya showed his character by not only catching up but varying his game to unsettle the American.

Forcing Alex into errors, Aditya took charge and ensured India won the tie.

The results:

India bt USA 2-1 (Ravi Dixit bt Thomas Mattson 9-4, 9-6, 9-3; Vikram Malhotra lost to Todd Harrity 1-9, 9-6, 8-10, 6-9; Aditya Jagtap bt Alex Domenick 8-10, 9-7, 6-9, 9-5, 9-3).

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport