National Squash Champion Harinderpal Sandhu Out, Joshna Chinappa Qualifies for Semi-Finals

Men's national champion Harinderpal Sandhu was knocked out in the quarter-finals, while women's champion Joshna Chinappa sailed into the semi-finals of the USD 15,000 NSCI Open JSW Indian Squash Circuit.  (Joshna Chinappa Clinches 10th Professional Title)

     

Sandhu, the third seed, tried his level best but could not get past top-seeded English pro Adrian Waller, who put up a near-flawless performance. The latter won 11-6 11-9 11-6 in 40 minutes.

     

Joshna, on the other hand, justified her billing as the tournament's no. 3 seed by getting past Hong Kong's Lee Ka in four games. The Indian champion won 11-5 11-7 9-11 11-2 in 36 minutes.

     

Waller played a solid, controlled game from the start against Sandhu, making unforced errors only in the later stages of game two.

     

Sandhu's best chance came at 9-8 in second game, but one error and a brilliant shot by Waller closed the gap and sent the game his way.

In the third game, Sandhu seemed a bit hurried, allowing Waller to rack up a big lead, 7-3. It proved too much for Sandhu and Waller took the match with only three unforced errors.

"I started well in the first game. Then I just gave away everything with a lot of errors. I started playing too short, too often. He stuck to the basic game really well and that payed off," said Sandhu, who had won three out of four tournaments in the circuit held last year.

"It was a solid match on my part. The key was the second game. Harry had most of the game, but I managed to claw back at the end," said Waller.

Meanwhile, Egypt's El Hammamy siblings were on a roll with another pair of wins in the quarter-finals. Karim El Hammamy played an aggressive game against compatriot Mohamed Reda, working the corners to score a 11-6 6-11 11-7 11-7 in 64 minutes.

Hania El Hammamy, too, moved into the semi-finals with a 11-7 11-6 6-11 7-11 11-7 win in 50 minutes against countrywoman Nouran El Torky