Joshna, Dipika set up title clash

Chennai, April 29 

Joshna Chinappa and Dipika Pallikal set up an all-India title clash for the first time ever in the Asian Squash Championship after entering the final with contrasting wins today. Saurav Ghosal became the first Indian male player to reach the singles final of the prestigious event.

While Pallikal, seeded fourth, upset top seed Annie Au of Hong Kong 11-9 7-11 11-7 11-9, second seed Chinappa made short work of Hong Kong’s sixth seed Tong Tsz Wing 11-6 11-4 11-8.

Starting brilliantly against the pre-tournament favourite, Pallikal took the opening game. However, Au came back strongly to claim the second game. Pallikal seized the initiative and kept Au off balance by staying aggressive.

This was Pallikal’s third win over world No. 11 Au in 10 meetings.

Chinappa, meanwhile, completely dominated her rival as she took the first two games easily before Wing posed a challenge in the third. But the Indian shut her rival out to win in front of a cheering crowd at the Express Avenue mall here.

Ghosal too strong

Ghosal proved too strong for fifth seed Leo Au of Hong Kong as he won 11-6 11-7 11-3.

The second-seeded Indian never allowed Leo Au to settle down. Mixing aggression with finesse, Ghosal captured the first game in no time.

Ghosal will take on top seed Max Lee of Hong Kong in the final. Lee ousted third-seeded Malaysian Nafiizwan Adnan 12 -10 11-6 11-5 in 51 minutes to book his spot in the final. — PTI