Top seed Saurav Ghosal and second seeded Wai Hang Wong of Hong Kong carved out contrasting victories to set up a meeting in the final of the fifth ICL Chennai Open Squash championships in Chennai on Saturday.
In Friday's semi-finals, the national champion put it across a fighting fifth seed Mohammed El Shorbagy of Egypt 11-9, 12-10, 12-10 in 31 minutes, while Wai Hang came back from behind to defeat compatriot and third seed Dick Lau 7-11, 11-4, 11-9, 9-11, 11-6 in a sea-saw battle that lasted nearly an hour.
It was yet another clinical display by Saurav, a former British Junior Open winner, except for a temporary lapse in concentration when he had a disputed let call each in the first two games. But this hardly had any impact on the outcome of the contest as Saurav's game was a notch higher than his lanky rival.
Thriving on the Egyptian's errors, Saurav led 6-3 in the opening game when a disputed let call affected his rhythm. He asked for a 'stroke' but the referee gave a ''no let''. Shorbagy managed to equalise 6-6 and 8-8 before Saurav came up with fine drops to win the first game.
The contest went on even keel in the second till 8-8 when a 'let' call again disturbed his concentration. But Saurav managed to put this behind and won the game on extra points.
Saurav played some unbelievable shots in the third, executed with finesse. Despite having the height advatange, the Egyptian could not reach out to them. From 8-8, Saurav came up with a fine drop to edge ahead 9-8. As Shorbagy slipped and fell in the front court, Saurav finished the rally at 10-8.
The Indian could not convert two match-points as Shorbagy came up with a pair of lovely returns, the ball hitting just above the tin before dropping. Saurav had no problems in winning the subsequent points to enter the final.
The other contest turned out to be an absorbing duel as Both knew each other's strengths by the back of their palm. But Wang's experience proved decisive in the end.
Results (semi-finals): Saurav ghosal(Ind) bt Mohammed El Shorbagy (Egypt) 11-9, 12-10, 12-10; Wai Hang Wong (Hong Kong) bt Dick Lau(Hong Kong) 7-11,11-4,11-9, 9-11, 11-6.