Fourth seed Saurav Ghosal progressed to the men's semifinals of the Chennai Open squash championships here on Friday with an 11-7, 11-7, 12-14, 11-7 quarterfinal win over English sixth seed Chris Simpson.
Simpson came into the game having outlasted Siddharth Suchde in a tense five-game affair on Thursday, and . The residual fatigue he carried into this match may not have been apparent in every point, but Ghosal was quick to capitalise upon any hint of laboured movement.
The first instance came at 5-all in the first, when he wrong-footed Simpson from the centre of the forecourt, feinting as if to drop into the left corner but flicking a backhand the other way at the last moment.
At the end of the second game, in which he'd earned himself his second warning for racquet abuse in the tournament, a deep flush had spread across the redheaded Simpson's face. Ghosal, forever dancing on the balls of his feet, looked daisy-fresh in comparison.
Imaginative
Somehow, the Englishman found reserves not just of energy but also of imagination in the third game. He began taking the ball early whenever he had the chance, and discovered new ways to use the side walls. With Ghosal showing no signs of letting up himself, this was the most entertaining of the four sets. Simpson had game ball at 10-7, but had to wait eight more points to win it 14-12.
The fourth was equally tight to start with, and full of deft winners, Simpson going from 4-6 to 6-all with drop shots at opposite corners of the court. But from 7-all, he ended successive rallies with tinned shots, after which his hopes of extending the contest to a fifth game evaporated rapidly.
In Saturday's semifinal, Ghosal will face English second seed Jonathan Kemp, whose left-handed wiles swept aside compatriot Laurence Delasaux in straight games.
Grinham ousted
Frenchwoman Camille Serme pulled off an upset of sorts in the WISPA Women's International, beating third-seeded Australian Rachael Grinham 4-11, 12-10, 11-3, 11-3.
Meanwhile, the top two seeds Nicol David and Jenny Duncalf moved into the semifinals with straight-games wins over Samantha Teran and Laura Massaro, seeded eight and five.
The results (quarterfinals):
PSA Men's International: Ong Beng Hee (Mas) bt Yann Perrin (Fra) 11-5, 11-8, 11-8; Mohammad Ali Reda (Egy) bt Alan Clyne (Sco) 9-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-5; Saurav Ghosal (Ind) bt Chris Simpson (Eng) 11-7, 11-7, 11-13, 11-7; Jonathan Kemp (Eng) bt Laurence Delasaux (Eng) 11-9, 11-4, 11-7.
WISPA Women's International: Nicol David (Mas) bt Samantha Teran (Mex) 11-9, 11-4, 12-10;Kasey Brown (Aus) bt Jaclyn Hawkes (Nzl) 11-6, 8-11, 11-9, 11-4; Camille Serme (Fra) bt Rachael Grinham (Aus) 4-11, 12-10, 11-3, 11-3; Jenny Duncalf (Eng) bt Laura Massaro (Eng) 12-10, 11-9, 11-9.
