Rediff.com – Jul 18, 2006 – India’s Ritwik Bhattacharya retained the ICL Chennai Open world professional squash championship title and a cash prize of USD 1300 along with it, trouncing his Dutch opponent Dylan Bennet in the final in Chennai on Sunday.
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Though the final between the two turned out to be a tame affair, Ritwik, the world No. 49, played a superb game, displaying excellent movement on court. Bhattacharya won in straight games at 11-4, 11-2, 11-7 in just 25 minutes.
Bennett took home USD 800 and a trophy for finishing runner-up.
This was JCT sponsored Bhattacharya’s fourth PSA career title.
The highlight of the match was the manner in which Bhattahcharya forced Bennet to make mistakes, most often during rallies. He made very good use of the side walls and was excellent in controlling his speed.
Though Bhattacharya got some negative points, he was precise in planning and execution of his game, coming up with superb winners on nearly five occasions in the three games.
In the first two games, he quickly shot up to 7-3 and 9-2 leads before winning them. It was a different story in the third, as Bennett, coached by his father, came back and in fact led 2-0 before surrendering it.
Once Bhattacharya drew level at 4-4 and then led at 8-5, Bennett, who has never won against his Indian rival in his earlier four meetings, threw in the towel.
Dr. John F. Murray is a sports psychologist and clinical psychologist providing sports psychology and counseling services based in Palm Beach, Florida.