It was disappointing to see Barada lose

The Mahindra World Open is at a stage where it is getting to be more mental than physical to hang in there. Ideally, it should have been the finals that was being played on Friday, but instead it is one more match before the title round and that gets real tough.In fact, the extra round has already taken its toll on many big names and it is a credit to the total preparedness of me and the other three players still in the fray. It was disappointing to watch Ahmed Barada go down without a fight to Jonathan Power. The Egyptian world No 2 was just not there. Jonathan played well, but if Barada had played to his potential, then it would have been okay. I had mentioned in my earlier column that Barada was too tense going into the match against Power, wanting to win too much. Probably, too many expectations on his shoulders, but all that comes with the game and has to be coped with.

It would have pleased me to play John White in the semi-final, and he had his chances to get there, but it was fatigue that put paidto his aspirations.