Ritwik Bhattacharya thread

Post by **Dhruv** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 2:34 pm

Ritwik was the top seed in the championship which was a $3000 prize money satellite level event(yes 3000). His complete match by match results are:

Final:
[1] Ritwik Bhattacharya (IND) bt [Q] Badr Abdel Aziz (SWE) 11-10 (2-0), 11-2, 11-1

Semi-finals:
[1] Ritwik Bhattacharya (IND) bt [3] Wai Hang Wong (HKG) 11-10 (4-2), 11-10 (2-0), 2-11, 11-5

Quarter-finals:
[1] Ritwik Bhattacharya (IND) bt [6] Julien Balbo (FRA) 11-7, 9-11, 11-7, 8-11, 11-6

1st round:
[1] Ritwik Bhattacharya (IND) bt Iago Cornes (ESP) 11-7, 11-5, 11-9

PKBasu · Post by **PKBasu** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 3:39 pm

I noticed that he was top-seeded. But the paltry prize money is a reflection of the unprofessional state of affairs in this sport. I don't know how players make ends meet. Perhaps only the top-10 can make anything like a decent living off the sport.

BSharma · Post by **BSharma** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 4:40 pm

The prize money in squash is paltry compared to golf, tennis and some other sports.

Here are a few developments that may bring bigger prize money into squash:

- the transportable all-glass courts that can be placed inside an indoor stadium so that a large crowd can see the action. Earlier versions of the courts had only one glass wall through which a limited number of people could view the match.

- increasing popularity of squash in the Middle-East and more tournaments being held there with bigger prize money.

- new top level players coming from countries outside England, Australia and Pakistan making squash a more global sport.

Post by **Dhruv** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 5:42 pm

To give you an idea of the state of affairs

the highest prize money tournaments in the game are the * platinum * level events that have $120,000 as prize money. There are a handful of these events (draws of 32).

Satellites are at the bottom of the scale (3000) and then super satellites with 6000. There are challengers but the money there is even less than that of satellites and I am not quite sure how they work.

voodoochild · Post by **voodoochild** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 5:50 pm

I can't wait to watch Ritwik and Siddharth in action at the Rochester Pro-Am. Its going to be an exciting weekend of squash with Ritwik as the #2 seed.

Incidentally, this is the first $4K Satellite event organised by the Rochester Squash Racquets Association.
I'll try and keep you posted. For tournament updates, visit www.squashrochester.org !

-Mithun Mukherjee

Post by **Dhruv** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 5:58 pm

Addition to the above info. This should add 60 points to his total and take his average points to 30.625 and his ranking to about 80 from the current 97.

Post by **Dhruv** » Sun Jan 23, 2005 9:26 am

At the Rochester Open Squash tournament both Indian players Ritwik and Siddharth have entered the semis.

Ritwik's results so far are:

1 - Ritwik Bhattacharya (IND,79) d. Mohamed Ismail (EGY,178) 6-11 11-5 8-11 11-5 6-1 ret

1 - Ritwik Bhattacharya (IND,79) d. 7 - Daryl Selby (ENG,136) score awaited

The semis matchup is 1 - Ritwik Bhattacharya (IND,79) vs Ahmed Hamza (EGY,190)

voodoochild · Post by **voodoochild** » Sun Jan 23, 2005 9:40 pm

Ritwik won the Rochester Pro-Am 2005 in style this afternoon beating Sam Miller (ENG) in four games 3-1.
I don't remember the exact scores, but all games were quite close with Miller putting up a really good performance. In the end, Ritwiks accuracy and precise drops got the better of him. I have to say, I've never seen such pretty shots before. Such fun to watch !
The #1 seed of displayed excellent sportsmanship and some very clean gameplay, which is not very common in the PSA I'd think.
Another feather in the cap for this awesome athlete who, when asked for an autograph on a T-shirt to be raffled off, signed it "Ritwik !! India ".

In the semis last night, he beat Ahmed Hamza (EGY) even more decisively, 3-0. Siddharth was doing well against Sam Miller in the semis but had to pull out in the 4th game trailing 2-1 because of a bad cramp. He did complete the 4th game but it was evident that he was in pain. He displayed a lot of depth in all his games and showed exactly why he is #1 at Harvard, the powerhouse of US college squash!

For the squash fanatic and the Indian in me, its been an exciting weekend of squash. We can only be proud of such talent coming out of our country with the likes of Ritwik, Sourav and Siddharth ! Now if only the sport got some recognition!

-Mithun

BSharma · Post by **BSharma** » Sun Jan 23, 2005 10:18 pm

Now if only the sport got some recognition!

Well said, Mithun.

Thanks for the report.

Post by **Dhruv** » Sun Jan 23, 2005 11:05 pm

This win should take Ritwik to his career high ranking of 66. We will have to wait for the official rankings to be released for confirmation but he should be around his career high in any case.

Now that Ritwik is in the US and he has won his last two tourneys I wonder if he will try his luck at the 1 Star ($12,000) tourney qualies in Canada followed by a challenger and a super satellite there or if he will head to South America or return to Asia for the super satellites in those countries.

Hopefully he can pick up a few points and money in the next little while so that he is a little more confident and also can then enter the higher prize money and higher point tournaments.

voodoochild · Post by **voodoochild** » Mon Jan 24, 2005 2:08 am

During the initial rounds of the ProAm I had a chance to ask Ritwik where he was headed from here. He said he'd be returning to London to train some more. This win would've definitely boosted his confidence and might've made him change his mind.

PKBasu · Post by **PKBasu** » Mon Jan 24, 2005 9:22 am

Thanks for the great eye-witness accounts, Mithun (I definitely prefer that name to your forum moniker!!). It's good to see Ritwik dominating at the Satellite level, although squash is a sport in which there appears to be considerable rigidity in rankings. Let's hope Ritwik can make a breakthrough at the next level (super-satellites?).

Post by **Dhruv** » Wed Feb 02, 2005 8:49 pm

Well my calculations were slightly off. Ritwik is now ranked as #72 an improvement from the start of the year and near a career high. A few more tournaments and he should be able to better his ranking.

Lets hope he gets there.

Ritiwik is probably in Manitoba right now playing the qualies of a 1Star event if he is still playing competitive squash this week. Hopefully he planned his trip through Canada because there is a challenger (for money/fun) next week and then another super satellite in a couple of weeks and then 2 more tourneys in March all in Canada.

voodoochild · Post by **voodoochild** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 5:11 pm

A couple of videos from the Rochester ProAm final between Ritwik and Sam Miller (which Ritwik won) are online.
So if you are on broadband, click away - http://www.ithacasquash.com/videovault/ ... tml#roch05

joshozzy · Post by **joshozzy** » Mon Apr 11, 2005 5:24 pm

If you haven't seen the new technology Virtual Spectator introduced at the Bermuda Masters, it is definatly worth a look. You can see a free sample at

www.virtualspectator.com/preview

The new technology has multi-angle cameras, thermographic imaging, and electronic player tracking. This will change the way we watch squash in the future.

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