PROSQUASH
Vol 12 No. 2 Issue No.
46 April 2008
14TH ASIAN SENIOR SQUASH KUWAIT 2008
It was
the closest India came to beating Pakistan
(21/2/2008)
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Siddharth Suchde, who played at No 3 for India at the 14th Asian Squash Championship, reflects on India's show, saying that the future is incredibly bright. The recently-concluded 14th Asian Squash Championships were, for the first time, held in Kuwait's newly-inaugurated National Squash Center. The Indian team comprising of Ritwik Bhattacharya, Saurav Ghosal, Naresh Kumar and myself were to compete in both the |
Individual Championships followed by the Team Championships.
In the Individual
category expectations were high as Saurav Ghosal was given a 3/4 seeding,
while Ritwik Bhattacharya was placed 5/8. We all managed to win our first
round matches fairly comfortably which is always a relief! In the second
round Ritwik, who'd been suffering from a sore shoulder in previous weeks,
fell to ex-Kuwaiti no.1 Mohammed Hajeyah by the narrowest of margins.
Naresh also lost to Wong
Wai Hang from Hong Kong. Saurav and myself were more fortunate and managed
to win our second rounds as well as the pre-quarter finals which placed us
in more daunting territory. In the quarters, Saurav lost in a great match to
the crowd favorite and Kuwaiti no.1, Abdullah
Al-Mezayen 3-1. I on the
other hand also lost 3-1 to the eventual finalist Ong Beng Hee. Mohd Azlan
Iskander was, for the first time, crowned as the Asian Champion after he
exhausted Beng Hee in a two- hour marathon edging out his teammate 9-7 in
the fifth. I take partial credit for that result as Beng Hee was bound to
feel the effects from his quarters!!!
Following a two- day
break to enjoy our luxury hotel in Kuwait, Team India was ready to start the
second phase of these championships. The initial rounds went as expected as
we grabbed wins over Japan, Qatar and Korea. In the semi-finals we drew
Malaysia, the no.1 seeds and defending champions. Despite the great
disparity in rankings, Ritwik and Saurav, playing at positions 2 and 1
respectively put on an amazing show of guts to cause the Malaysians some
serious anxiety during our tie.
Unfortunately, the Malaysians had their way and we were left with the disappointment of having come so close. The other semi-final however didn't go according to plan. Kuwait caused the biggest upset of the Championships by defeating the second seeds, Pakistan. It was the first time in Asian Squash history that Pakistan would not compete in a final. That meant India would have to take on their arch-rivals Pakistan in order to secure the bronze medal. Despite Saurav winning at the no.1 position Ritwik and myself were unable to convert and lost our ties 3-2. It's the closest in recent years that India has ever come to beating Pakistan and while the result wasn't in our favor this year, the future looks incredibly promising. In the finals, Kuwait weren't able to continue their winning ways and Malaysia showed why they were the top seeds by securing their second consecutive Asian title.