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Press Report of Raju Chainani 1990 |
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All agog for a squash spectacular |
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6/11/1990 COLD gray morning with outside temperatures of 5C made it a rather chilly welcome at the Palais DC Sport 'A' Toulouse with the World Squash championships commence tomorrow. The finishing touches were being applied at the venue which will have the all glass court on center stage and a spectator capacity in excess of 3,000. There's US $100,000 at stake with a winner's purse of US $20,000. Even the first round losers take home US $1000 each, so everyone in the 32 man field has a share of the action. The drama over the past two days surrounded Chris Dittmar. Apparently, his valid French visa was stamped in his old passport, and it took some eleventh hour maneuvering to ensure that the three times finalist makes it to Toulouse. The very mention of the venue makes Ross Norman the topic of conversation. The Kiwi is now 31 and has taken out a pilot's license. He expects to hang up his boots soon, and what better way to bid advice than to do it at the very venue where in 1986 he toppled Jahangir. Norman faces the world junior champion Simon Parke in an awkward first round encounter and then could find Rodney Martin too hot to handle. That's all happening in the bottom half of the draw and if things go according to the form book, Jansher takes on Rodney Martin in the quarters, then meets Chris Robertson in the semis, and forces another challenge from Chris Dittmar to determine who's the world champion. Three Kangaroos stand in his way, all very fine players. It's Rodney Martin's genius which has caused Jansher the most problems. Rodney appeared very released today. His girlfriend Danielle Drady is here too so there's a varied amount of beauty in the surroundings. The Aussies have arrived early to get used to the climate conditions and the court. Jansher comes in tomorrow from London and in the first couple of rounds he really has some fairly ordinary competition. He comes on stage on Wednesday evening at 10 pm in the last match of the opening round. He and indeed many others would have improved their French by the end of the week! We' know by then how the Khan came to win at Toulouse. |
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The Pathan fights backBy RAJU CHAINANI A wounded Pathan is tike a cat on a hut tin roof Mir Zaman Gul his pride dented by two first rounds defeats on the circuit had a point to prove last night. Twelve winners flowed from his racket in the first game. The backhand worked beautifully. Be it the drop or the boast or that delightful down the line drive he plays with such arrogance. The world number eight can do very little wrong. A game up after 13 minutes promised much more to come. Instead we saw Mark Cairns keep the ball hack, unsettle Gul and level scores. Then came an unbelievable period, Mir Zaman led 3-2, had two penalty points awarded against him, made six unforced errors and saw. Cairns hit four winners. In one service hand, a 3-2 lead had changed to a 3-14 deficit. Mir Zaman looked dead and gone. Though Cairns led 3-0 in the fourth game, it was becoming increasingly obvious that he was mentally shattered. From 3-4 down. Mir Zaman strolled to a 13-4 lead and polished off matters at 15-5. It had taken him fifty-nine minutes to avenge his defeat in Malaysia. 1540. 8-15, 15-14. 15-5 would have been music to his ears. |
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By Raju Chainani Independent 24-1-1990 |
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THE TEAM events of the Wills fifth Asian Squash championships came under starters orders Tuesday morning. It was a nice and easy beginning for our boys who swamped Sri Lanka 3-0, dropping just fourteen points in their three matches. The favourites, Pakistan did even better as their-opponents, Bangladesh could muster up just nine points between their players. Hong Kong's Patrick Coll was taken to four games by Nidal Gart (Jordan) and his colleague Jackie Choi had a similar experience with Yazeed Adas. It didn't stop Hong Kong winning 3-0. Singapore had no problems with Macau and took just over an hour to wrap up their encounter. The Indian ladies strolled past Jordan with Bhuvaneshwari Kumari winning 9-0, 9-0, 9-0 against Tagreed Akasha. The Jordanian girl is a qualified pilot in their national airline. Lata Talwar had a close first game with Suheer Kaheb but Honey Sherman dropped just two points to 1 Leema Shankelte. The Indians have favourites Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Sri lanka to contend with. They should beat the Lankans but the other three are going to be very tough customers. In the afternoon, the Malaysian girls played. Sri Lanka. Nilufer Philip Apasa-kumar, the number one Lankan girl accidently fell on court and dislocated her left shoulder. It took almost an hour for the doctor to arrive which is most concerning taking into account that a major event is being conducted here. That Malaysia were far too good is a different matter. The shirts made specially for this event have at last been given to the teams. The Indians meanwhile are hiding their disappointment and are being good hosts. They are still awaiting the kit given by proline. Even the Puma track-suits meant for the officials are still in safe keeping. The fact of the matter is that we are into the fifth day of this tournament and as yet nobody has been seen wearing the shirts that were specially made for the event. There's no getting away from this as indeed it is sad that some of the boys are yet to be compensated for their travelling expenses. Such a big tournament, such a marvellous atmosphere and like-it-or-not, more than one instance of a one-arm bandit show. K J Vohra plays a major role in deciding who referees the matches. Vohra gets a couple of plum matches for himself, including the men's final. You be the judge. The evening session saw the lesser knowns get thrashed again. The Indian men had no problems with Macau whilst Malaysia and Pakistan also won quite easily. |
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Malik
out, Daruvala faces Habib
By RAJU CHAINANI SINGAPORE, Twenty -year-old Dominic Preece, trying in his first international event, easily beat Indian Ravinder Malik in the qualifying round of the 21st Singapore Open Preece is about to take up a coaching assignment in Abu Dhabi. He has never been ranked in either the juniors or seniors in England where he has played his squash in Plymouth. He won 15-11, 11-15, 15-4, 15-4 in just forty-four minutes. Malik as usual started slowly and in the third and fourth games was no match for his opponent, conceding a number of unforced errors. Earlier Meherwan Daruvala earned a crack at Pakistan's Tayyab Habib when his opponent failed to, show up. Meherwan is going to have his hands full this morning when he takes the court at 10 am. Habib has steadily come up in the world rankings. In the last fortnight he lost to Chris Dittmar in the last 16 round of the Australian Open and a few days ago found Jansher too hot in the opening round of the New Zealand Open. Ghous U R Rahman lost the first game to Malaysia's Chris Chan before pulling up his socks against a rather unfit opponent. He now takes on Colin Payne for a place in the main draw. Being a member of the International Squash Players' Association (ISPA) or its ladies wing, WISPA certainly has its advantages Ghous U R Rehman has only joined and finds himself ranked at 222. The Asian ladies champion has still to join up. As a result she has had to come through the pre-qualifying rounds. At Calcutta, Mah Li Lian ran through the opposition. Here she finds Dawn Olsen, whom she beat in the Asian final, a direct entry whereas she has to come through at least five matches before she makes the main event. Right now she has safely negotiated the pre-qualifying matches and along with Josephine Choo has come into the qualifying round. So far no mortal has beaten Jahangir and Jansher, both, in any tournament. The results of the Australian and New Zealand Opens have shown that these two superstars are human beings after all. Jansher was quick to avenge a defeat at the hands of Rodney Martin. The decline of Dittmar has resulted in both Martin and Chris Robertson taking over and keeping up a strong Aussie challenge. Sadly both Robertson and Jahangir are not competing here. Since 1985, when the West Coast Recreation Centre was built, the Singapore Open has been held at this splendid complex. The three-glass-wall court, with a creating capacity of 800 has seen some memorable finals. Jansher in fact has been in the winners' enclosure for the past four years. Qamar Zaman in 1986, Dittmar in '87 and '89, and Jahangir in 1988 have found themselves at the receiving end of the current world champion. He along with the top Australians arrived last night and from today the fireworks begin. A word must be said for Perla Monapole. Many in India will remember her and today at the sprightly age of 50, she came very close to making it to the ladies qualifying round. Perla has been the only Indian lady in contemporary squash to give our thirteen times champion. Bhuvaneshwari Kumari a run for her money. Anyone who saw her play here will appreciate why this fine exponent of the game has been a popular figure on the Indian circuit in the past. |
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