Bhattacharya justifies top billing by wining all India title

Mumbai, Jan 31: Top seed Ritwik Bhattacharya today justified his top billing by beating second seed Khalid Atlas Khan of Pakistan 12-10, 11-9, 11-7 in the men's category of the 75th tournament, the ISP Platinum All-India Squash Carnival 2007, organised by the Indian Squash Professionals at the glass-backed squash courts of the Juhu Vile Parle Gymkhana and The Club, Andheri, here.

Bhattacharya bagged along with the title, a prize purse of Rs 1,00,000. He made a good return to title winning ways after an unsuccessful attempt to win the gold medal at the recently concluded Asian Games. The boy from Delhi fought hard in a final that turned out to be a India versus Pakistan affair with Khalid Atlas Khan joining him in the finals. Bhattacharya had to sweat it out again Khan, who was intent to fighting right till the end.

The first game set the tone for the match as Bhattacharya and Khan battled their way through long rallies. Bhattacharya saved game point in the first game and thanks to an error from Khan, took the first game. The second was just as close but Bhattacharya managed to keep his nose ahead and won the game 11-9. The third game was much more intense with the both players falling over each other on more than a few occasions. The tiring Khan however couldn't keep up with Bhattacharya and lost the game 11-7.

''I wasn't playing my best squash today. This game was all about grinding out a result and I managed that. The tournament has been great and hats off to ISP and I hope to be a part of more of their events'', Bhattacharya added after his encounter.

Meanwhile the women's final also went according to the seedings as top seed Joshna Chinappa demolished the second seed Deepika Palliakal 11-5, 11-8. 11-9. In a game that was littered with errors and hence short rallies, Chinappa beat her close friend Palliakal in 21 minutes. The first game was a one sided affair with Chinappa dictating the play. In the third game Deepika was leading 4-0 but she lost her initiative and also the game.

Following are the results: (All Finals) Men's Open: 1-Ritwik Bhattacharya bt 2-Khalid Atlas Khan (Pak) 12-10, 11-9, 11-7.

Boys u-19: 1-Vikram Malhotra bt Sohail Kapoor (Delhi) 11-8, 8-11, 11-9, 11-5.

Boys u-17: 1-Cyril Kuhn (TN) bt 2-Laxman Joshi (Jindal Squash Academy) 7-11, 11-5, 13-11, 6-11, 12-10.

Boys u-15: 1-Aditya Jagtap bt Abhishek Pradhan 11-7, 9-11, 11-8, 11-5.

Boys u-13: 1-Mahesh Mangaonkar bt 2-Rahil Fazelbhoy 11-2, 11-6, 11-4.

Boys u-11: Akhilesh Yadav bt Yohan Pandole 11-3, 9-11, 11-5, 11-7.

Boys&Girls u-9: 1-Rajat Agarwal bt 2-Sandeep Paswan 11-7, 7-11, 11-9, 11-7.

Boys&Girls u-7: Aryan Parekh bt Gopal Goyal 11-3, 11-5.

Women's: 1-Joshna Chinappa (TN) bt 2-Dipika Pallikal (TN) 11-5, 11-8. 11-9.

Girls u-15: 1-Saumya Karki bt 2-Ankita Sharma 11-7, 4-11, 11-7, 7-11, 11-3.

Professionals: 2-Sanjay Pawar bt 1-Mahesh Verma (Nashik) 8-11, 11-9, 8-11, 11-6, 11-4.

Doubles Open: Vikram Malhotra&Manish Chotrani bt Sunil Verma&Laxman Joshi 15-8, 15-11. Doubles Handicap: Leon Emanuel&Dr. Sheshadri bt Rajesh Rajani&Vinod Rajani 13-15, 15-14, 15-6. Men's Over 35: Amit Chinoy bt Raja Parthsarhay 11-4, 11-3, 3-11, 12-10.

Men's Over 45: Vaman Apte bt Rahul Kumar (Del ) 12-10, 12-10, 11-2.

Men's Over 55: Raj Manchanda bt Kishan Lal 11-9, 11-5, 6-11, 11-7.

UNI