Saurav sails into semis as lone Indian survivor

Chennai, June 14 (UNI) Saurav Ghosal remained the lone Indian to survive into the semi finals with his compatriots, seventh seed Gaurav Nandrajog and unseeded Parth sharma bowed out meekly after taking a game off their opponents in the PSA ICL Chennai Open squash championships at the India Cements national academy courts here today.

Even Saurav ended the run of another Indian Naresh Kumar 11-5, 5-11, 11-4, 11-6 in a 35 minute encounter, in which he momentarily lost touch to lose the second game before entering the last four stage.

Fifth seeded Mohammed El Shorbagy of Egypt defected fourth seeded Englishman Neil Hitchens to set up a semi-final clash with Saurav Ghosal.

The Egyptian squandered three match points in the fourth game, before getting the better of Neil Hitchens 9-11, 11-5, 11-9, 11-13, 11-4 in nearly an hour.

Saurav's match went on predicted lines as he was hardly tested by Naresh. But the contest between Shorbagy and Hitchens turned out to be a battle between two equals. Ranking wise Shorbagy's win could be termed as an upset, but the way he played, especially the cross court shots and deft drops close to the tin, the Egyptian trooped out a deserving winner.

Inititally, things were not too rosy for Shorbagy, who lost the opening game. But he came back well pocket the next two and was poised to finish off the match in the fourth game itself. But an unfavourable decision at 10-8, after he trailed 1-6, stretched the game to extra points.

A pair of errors initially when Shorbagy hit the tin quite often allowed Hitchens to run up a 3-0 and 6-1 lead. The Egyptian came back well by tightening his returns and slowing the pace of the game. His touch at the forecourt caught the Englishman off guard and he reduced the leeway to 6-7 and then neutralized at 8-8.

He won two points in a row for a 10-8 lead before he was denied a ''stroke'' by the referee at match point. He missed a forehand at 10-9 and the game went to extra points where Shorbagy got the third match point at 11-10. Two fine returns from Hitchens and a low return by Shorbagy stretched the contest to the decider, where the Egyptian was unstoppable.

He led 4-0. Hitchens leveled at 4-4, before Shorbagy reeled off seven points in a row bringing a tame finish to an otherwise evenly-contested affair.

Results (Quarter Finals): Saurav Ghosal (Ind) bt Naresh Kumar (Ind) 11-5, 5-11, 11-4, 11-6 Mohammed El Shorbagy (Egypt) bt Neil Hitchens (England) 9-11, 11-5, 11-9, 11-13, 11-4 Dick Lau (Hong Kong) bt Parth Sharma 5-11, 11-5,11-4, 11-0 Wai Hang wong (Hong Kong) bt Gaurav Nandrajog (Ind) 5-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-7.

UNI