Joshana Chinappa of India (right) goes for a smash against top seed Raneem El Welily of Egypt during their first-round clash at the Qatar Classic squash championship yesterday. Chinappa won 3-1 (11/9, 11/6, 4/11, 11/9). PICTURES: Nasar TK
By Satya Rath/Doha
First day, first match, first blow—one couldn’t have asked for a more dramatic and sensational start to the proceedings of the 2015 Qatar Classic, which began at the Khalifa Tennis & Squash Complex yesterday.
By the end of the first two matches of the $265,000 PSA World Series event, the women’s top seed and world No 1 Raneem El Welily of Egypt looked in a state of daze, unable to fathom what had hit her. Interestingly enough, her conqueror, India’s Joshana Chinappa, too had the same bewildered expression on her face, still not believing what she had just achieved.
She had not just created the biggest upset of the championships, it was the biggest win of her career too.
“Oh my God, I don’t know what to say… It’s almost like, everything just worked for me today. This is by far the best win of my career—it doesn’t get any better than beating the player at the top of the world rankings,” said Chinappa after her 11-9, 11-6, 4-11, 11-9 win. Hopefully I can keep my momentum going now and take that into my next match and see how far I can go,” she added.
Joshana, playing with a rare poise and aggression right from the start, shot out of the blocks to establish an early two-game lead over an out-of-sorts and error-prone El Welily. There was a comeback of sorts from the 26-year-old Egyptian in the third game, which she took 4-11, and in a close fourth which witnessed some long and stunning rallies. But the Indian was in no mood to let her escape this time, and a costly error from the top seed when 9-8 ahead allowed Chinappa back into the game and the 29-year-old pounced, taking the next two points, and the match, in 37 minutes.
“It’s my first time ever beating a top 5 player. The last few times we played, she beat me 3/0. But that 2-0 lead was huge and really gave me hope. With a player of her quality you can never be sure, and she can come back from any position even when not at her best.
“I don’t know what I’ve done, I don’t think it’s anything in particular, just that I have taken a conscious decision to be more relaxed, not look at the rankings and just enjoy my squash. I guess it’s paying off at the moment,” added Chinappa, currently ranked 20 in the world.
India number one Dipika Pallikal however couldn’t replicate the form that took her to the last eight at last month’s US Open as she crashed out of the tournament after a 3-0 (11-5, 11-7, 11-7) defeat to unseeded Egyptian Yathreb Adel.
“Really pleased with my match today, I was coming from the qualifiers, I was relaxed, no pressure on me whatsoever. I was looking forward to playing Dipika and was up for it. The only time we played before was during the World Juniors, I was 13, and she chopped me 3/0. It was revenge time I guess, six years later!” laughed Adel, who will face Chinappa in the second round tomorrow.
There was another upset later in the afternoon when 15-year-old Amina Yousry stunned 13th seed and world No 18 Emily Whitlock of England 3-2 in what was clearly the most entertaining match of the day.
The Egyptian, ranked a distant 140 in the world and had to come through the qualifiers to make the main draw, didn’t put a foot wrong against her 21-year-old opponent, and showed extraordinary maturity in the mixing of her shots. On an opening day dominated by shock victories the youngster, appearing in her first ever World Series tournament, belied the 120 places between the pairing on the world rankings as she produced an impressive and determined performance to move into the second round of the prestigious tournament.
The Egyptian picked up where she left off after upset wins over Liu Tsz-Ling and Sina Wall in qualification as she edged the first two games courtesy of tie-breaks in what was an evenly contested and intense battle. Whitlock responded to level the match at 2-2, taking the third and fourth games 11-9, before Yousry dug deep to take the fifth in what is a huge victory for her.
“I train with Raneem and Omneya at the Wadi Degla club and having them supporting me today made a huge difference. Today it was like, you die on this court, or you come out a winner. Every point, I thought about that. You die or you win the point. And that’s what got me through today,” said the chirpy Emina after the win.
