India's Saurav Ghosal on Friday stormed into the semifinals of Asian Individual Squash Championship after an easy 11-7, 11-7, 11-7 victory over compatriot Vikram Malhotra in Chennai
Chennai: India's Saurav Ghosal on Friday stormed into the semifinals of Asian Individual Squash Championship after an easy 11-7, 11-7, 11-7 victory over compatriot Vikram Malhotra in Chennai. The experienced Ghosal, seeded second in the tournament and ranked 30th in the world, needed just 43 minutes to thrash the 10th-seeded Malhotra. Ghosal kept his rival on the run with an array of shots and dominated the proceedings.
He will take on Hong Kong's Leo Au, the fifth seed, for a place in Sunday's final. Ghosal, who reached the last eight in the championship's previous edition in 2015, was too powerful for Malhotra, who has been doing well on the PSA Tour in recent times. Earlier, Au caused a mild flutter by getting the better
of fourth-seeded countryman Yip Tsz Fung in four games after losing the opener. Au and Fung were locked in a battle of attrition in the first couple of games before the former pulled away to book a berth in the semifinals.
Malaysian third-seed Mohd Nafiizwan overcame a mid-match slump to beat compatriot Yuen Chee Wern (7th seed) 11-9, 11-6, 6-11, 11-4 to move into the last four after a 70-minute battle. Women's top-seed Annie Au of Hong Kong also reached the semifinals as she hardly broke a sweat in her facile 11-5, 11
-6, 11-3 win against Japanese rival Satomi Watanabe in just 28 minutes.
Results:
Men's singles (Quarterfinals): Mohd Nafiizwan (3) (Malaysia) beat Yuen Chee Wern (7) (Malaysia) 11-9, 11-6, 6-11, 16-14; Leo Au (5) (Hong Kong) beat Yip Tsz Fung (4) (HongKong) 10-12, 12-10, 11-6, 11-4; Saurav Ghosal (2) (India) beat Vikram Malhotra (10) (India) 11-7, 11-7, 11-7.
Women's singles (Quarterfinals): Tong Tsz Wing (6) (Hong Kong) beat Joey Chan (3) 6-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-7; Annie Au (1) (Hong Kong) beat Satomi Watanabe (16) (Japan) 11-5, 11-6, 11-3.
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