Ghosh, Shetty survive early onslaughts

 

 

New Delhi, February 14: Former national champions Soumyajit Ghosh and Sanil Shetty huffed and puffed their way into the main draw of the $150,000 Seamaster 2017 World Tour India Open at the Thyagaraj Stadium here today, after having to absorb the pressure of counter attack coming from their opponents.

 

Ghosh, India’s second best ranked player in the world at No. 82 had to dig himself out of the pit to overcome a strong response from Saudi Arabia's Ali Alkhadrawi.  In the end, the Indian won 4-3.

 

The double Olympian was in a precarious position before winning the third game 11-6 but lost the next 12-14, and was staring an unexpected upset. But he started attacking the left-handed Alkhadrawi's body to rattle his opponent. Ghosh was quickly back in his strides and solidly resisted with excellent defensive game before seizing the opportunity to roll his opponent over. He won the crucial last three games 11-5, 11-6 and 11-8 and let out a delighted scream when he finally wrapped up the match.

 

"I chose a wrong strategy in order to be safe," said Ghosh after the victory. "I had to change my tactics midway through and focus on his weak points. That proved to be crucial in the last game," he added.

 

He started well in the morning when he beat young compatriot Jeet Chandra 4-0 in the first match to seal his place in the main draw. He polished off in just 17 minutes to wrap up the contest 11-7, 11-6, 11-3, 11-4.

 

Shetty, too, got off to a flying start downing Ronit Bhanja in straight games. But when he was up against a stronger opponent in Lubomir Jancark of the Czech Republic his second match, Shetty had to bring out his best to prevail 12-14, 12-10, 8-11, 11-4, 8-11, 12-10, 16-14 in a pulsating match.

 

However, national Youth and Junior champion Manav Thakkar was not as lucky as he went down to the top seed in the qualifiers, Joao Geraldo of Portugal, despite winning the first game. He managed to earn one more game and looked all set to take the match into a decider but a crucial error on the backhand saw him losing the sixth game, too, for a commendable 11-9, 9-11, 3-11, 11-6, 6-11, 11-13 display.

 

Manav had earlier beten Arjun Ghosh 4-1 and is in with a chance of finishing second, but it is loaded with some ifs and buts.

 

In women's singles, Madhurika Patkar crowned recently as the national champion began well when she beat teammate Krritwika Roy 4-1 in Group 1. But she could not sustain the pace set by Suthirtha Mukherjee, and went down 1-4. This could well spoil her chances in the main draw. On the other hand, young Archana Kamath and Priyanka Pareek won their qualifying matches earning the opportunity to face a lower ranked player in the tournament.

 

In the under-21 men's singles, three Indians advanced to the next round while five bit the dust. Birdie Boro of Guwahati beat compatriot Thakkar 9-11, 12-10, 9-11, 11-6, 11-5 to lead the charge.

 

In the under-21 women's singles, too, four Indians won their first-round matches while five suffered defeats. National champions Patkar, Pareek, Kamath, Sreeja Akula and Ayhika Mukherjee were among the winners.