Reda Beats Bhattacharya For Chennai Title

Egypt's second seed Mohd Ali Anwar Reda beat India's top seed Ritwik Bhattacharya in an absorbing five-game final of the 5th ICL Chennai Open - Circuit 2 to win the PSA Tour event at the ICL Squash Academy in the Indian city of Chennai in almost an hour.

The match started at an aggressive phase with 27-year-old Bhattacharya, from New Delhi, controlling the 'T'. Pinning his Egyptian opponent to the back with his aggressive drives and forcing him to play several loose shots to the front, Bhattacharya used his drops and delayed drives to collect numerous points. It was almost a walk in the park for the Indian favourite in the first game.

The second game started rather differently with 18-year-old Reda slowing down the game with beautiful lobs and maintaining his straight and cross court drives for which he is now renowned. Bhattacharya appeared overconfident and, in the process, lost focus and made several unforced errors. It was the same story in the third game as the Cairo teenager moved 2/1 ahead.

However, Ritwik came back in the fourth once again with aggressive shots and waited for the opening in the front which he put away brilliantly. The decider looked even for a while, but as the match wore on, so Ritwik tired - and the Indian started making unforced errors off Reda's beautifully struck straight and cross court shots.

An excited Reda gave an ear-piercing yell as he clinched the final point - and the title - by a 2-11, 11-6, 11-5, 7-11, 11-6 scoreline after 56 minutes. The triumph marked the fifth PSA Tour title of the teenager's career - but his fourth this year!

"Bhattacharya, who is coming back from a long lay-off due following knee surgery, gave a good account of himself," commented Major S Maniam, Consultant Coach to the Squash Rackets Federation of India.

Final:
[2] Mohd Ali Anwar Reda (EGY) bt [1] Ritwik Bhattacharya (IND) 2-11, 11-6, 11-5, 7-11, 11-6 (56m)