Ramit Tandon shows supremacy in Singapore final
By ALEX WAN – Squash Mad Asian Bureau Editor
The final of the Singapore Squash Open 2017 turned out to be a sombre affair as India’s Ramit Tandon was in a league of his own this afternoon and totally outplayed James Huang of Taiwan in straight games. While it may have looked one sided, it was still clearly a feast for the capacity Sunday afternoon crowd, who got treated to a feast of trickery from Tandon.
The world number 88 Tandon came firing right from the start and never allowed Huang to settle, winning the first game 11-3 very quickly. In the second Huang seem to have settled much better, matching Tandon for most parts of the rallies especially in the first half. But it was still Tandon who was far more controlling, and dictated the pace of the rallies. His front court game was very evidently troubling Huang, who on many occasions was left wondering where the next shot would be going.
Tandon edged ahead a little 4-2 and 6-4, before breaking away to 8-5 and eventually winning it 11-6, with the last two points being tins from the Taiwanese number one. The third was clearly a one-sided affair, with Tandon now playing more confidently than ever in the match, executing his shots with conviction and racing to a 6-0 lead. He’d drop another two points from the tin, before three backhand drives that died in the back ended the match after 32 minutes, 11-3, 11-6, 11-3.
The newly crowned Singapore Squash Open 2017 champion said after:
“I’m happy to get through today. Like I said, I’m not even moving 100% and my goal was only to complete the event, so this win is really a bonus. Today I was able to execute my game plan. I knew he is very fit and he moves a lot. I tried not to make as many mistakes and things just turned out my way.”
When asked of his next event, Tandon, a native of Kolkata but based out of New York now said, “I’m going back to India for a bit and I’ll see if I am well enough to play in Qatar next, if not it’ll be the Tournament of Champions in New York”.
James Huang, however, was still happy with his tournament, having been disappointingly beaten in the quarter final stage last year as the second seed. Huang said
“Ramit (Tandon) was just far too good today. I haven’t been feeling as great all week and I feel a little tight. I knew he was a good player so I know what I was in for. I played well for part of the second game, but I was just not able to maintain that. I’m still happy to have made the final here and overall, I had a good tournament.
It’s also special for me because I brought two of my students over and one of them, Ling, won third place in the women’s premier. It’s her first overseas event so it’s really quite an achievement.”
Results (All finals)
PSA M5
Ramit Tandon (IND) bt James Huang (TPE) 11-3, 11-6, 11-3 (32m)
MEN’S PREMIER
Tang Ming Hong (HKG) bt Lau Tsz Kwan (HKG) 11-8, 5-11, 11-6, 11-7 (31m)
WOMEN’S PREMIER
Jemyca Aribado (PHI) bt Aika Azman (MAS) 11-9, 8-11, 11-6, 13-11 (47m)
MEN’S MASTERS 1 (Over 35)
Mohd Rizal Mohd Kadir (SIN) bt Ken Hooi (MAS) 11-6, 11-5, 117
MEN’S MASTERS 2 (Over 45)
Peter Hill (SIN) bt Djony Supardi (INA) 11-2, 11-4, 11-6
MEN’S MASTERS 3 (Over 55)
Zainal Abidin (SIN) bt Eddie Cheong (MAS) 11-9, 11-0, 7-11, 6-11, 11-9
MEN’S SQUASH 57
Ken Hooi (MAS) bt Allan Soyza (MAS) 9-11, 11-4, 11-4
WOMEN’S SQUASH 57 (round robin)
1st : Teh Chiew Peng (MAS)
2nd : Katherine Djabri (WAL)
Pictures by Singapore Squash