Donna Urquhart of Australia, the top seed, tamed India's Joshna Chinappa 8-11, 11-4, 11-5, 11-6 in the final of the WISPA-Indian Challenger $16000 tournament at the Indian Squash Academy here on Saturday.
The 24-year-old received the winner's trophy and $2066 as prize money, while Joshna got $1604.
In only her second visit to the city, Urquhart made it a memorable occasion, by combining attack and defence in adequate measure. After losing the first game, Urquhart tightened her game, not giving enough room for the Indian, seeded fourth, to unleash her backhand drops and drives.
Urquhart raced to a 6-4 lead in the second game basing her game purely on resilience and deft touch. And as the match progressed, the Australian, ranked No. 16 in the world, deceived Joshna with her double and triple boasts, mostly from the backcourt. Whenever Joshna tried to lure her to the front, Urquhart was quick to reach and hit either backhand crosscourt or down-the-line winners.
Good start
Joshna started off well attacking the service of Urquhart and belting out winners. Wonderful drop shots and placements from the backcourt were the highlights of Joshna in the first game.
“After losing the first game, I tightened up my serves as Joshna was able to return with elan. I am happy that most often I succeeded with my double boasts and was able to push her to the corner to score points. Mainly, I concentrated on my game instead of trying to counter Joshna,” said Urquhart.
Joshna, who had defeated Urquhart in the NS 3 championship in 2009 in Kuala Lumpur, said, “I didn't have the discipline that I had in the first game.”
The result (final): Donna Urquhart (Aus) bt Joshna Chinappa (Ind) 8-11, 11-4, 11-5, 11-6.
