Noom beats Joshna for squash title

A listless Joshna Chinappa succumbed to lower ranked Dutch Orla Noom in straight games in the final of the WISPA Challenger No.2 at the Indian Squash Academy court in Chennai on Saturday.

Chinappa lost 8-11, 4-11, 10-12 in 35 minutes.

Hoping to win a WISPA title at home, her fourth in three years the Indian was inconsistent throughout the match.

In first game, the Dutch played fine drops to flummox Chinappa, who failed to put any resistance.

The only semblance of a fightback was in the third game when Chinappa, trailing 3-6, made some inroads by playing from the front and deservedly won two points with sheer hard work but Noom scored a winner from return of service.

"Joshna is player who always likes to be dragged in to rallies for raising her game. She is also known for her patience but today my strategy to keep her in the back court as much as possible worked wonders," Noom said after winning her fifth WISPA title.

On the other hand, Chinappa admitted that she was nervous during the match and was not in her elements.

"I was charged up to win the title before taking to the court but I do not know why was nervous today. I could not play my shots for various reasons and actually, I could not get my rhythm well in time. I'm now concentrating on my next events," Chinappa said.

Meanwhile Ivan Yuen of Malaysia clinched his maiden PSA title by defeating Mark Kracsak of Hungary 11-9, 11-9, 11-9.

Yuen, who had claimed his Asian Junior title at the same venue on August 1 this year, ran away with the first two games without much trouble.

Yuen displayed variety in his game coming up with delectable drop shots and volleys, besides carrying stronger forehand drives.

In the third, Kracsak managed to lead 7-2 but Yuen steadily scored to bridge the gap and caught up at 8-7.

Kracsak then yielded a stroke point and then seemed to be upset on some referee's calls. After that, Kracsak was unable to come back into the game.