India number two Ritwik Bhattacharya won his maiden $ 15,000 professional squash players association challenger series when he defeated compatriot Saurav Ghosal in a closely fought final in Chennai on Saturday.
As in the past the two figured in a title clash in PSA event held in India but Bhattacharya took sweeet revenge for his earlier losses at the hands of Ghosal. Bhattacharya was down 1-2 but rallied winning the fourth game and then the decider. He won 11-9, 5-11, 4-11, 11-8, 12-10 in ninety minutes of see saw battle.
With this win, Bhattacharya gained 225 points and also $ 2850, while Ghosal claimed $ 1950.
As the match commenced, Bhattacharya made his intentions clear, dominating with swift returns and counter attacked at will to gain the first game. The next two games went even initially but few line calls distracted Bhattacharya. Upset over this, Bhattacharya lost focus and Ghosal was able to win and lead 2-1 in game score.
In the fourth game, Bhattacharya was down 4-7 but fought his way back showing alacrity in his front court play and with a few scintillating back hand drop shots clawed his way to force the the match to the decider.
It turned out to be a do or die battle for Bhattacharya in the decider, where the Delhi based star often stuck to the front court and pinned Ghosal to the back court. Bhattacharya led 5-1 but Ghosal's never say die attitude helped him level the score on four occasions from 7-all to 10-10. Here, Bhattacharya who had the right to serve asked for two match points and then maintained focus, quelling Ghosal to emerge winner.