Dipika Pallikal, Joshna Chinappa heading towards quarter-final clash at US Open

Dipika Pallikal (right) at the US Open (image courtesy PSA website)

The opening World Series tournament of the new squash season could see an exciting all-Indian clash very soon. Just one pair of wins is needed for India’s top two squash queens – World No. 19 Dipika Pallikal and World No. 20 Joshna Chinappa – to lock horns with each other in the quarter-finals of this prestigious $150,000 event.

The two girls demonstrated their sheer talent at Drexel University in their first round matches on Sunday. While Chinappa thundered past the tenth-ranked Annie Au 11-6, 11-7, 12-10 in just 28 minutes, Pallikal showed amazing resilience to battle back for an 8-11, 13-11, 5-11, 11-7, 11-9 victory against the resurgent former World No. 4 Joelle King in 63 minutes.

Top-10 opponents ahead for both

The road ahead certainly gets tougher for both these Indian girls who teamed up to clinch the Commonwealth Games doubles gold last year. Both of them face top 10 opponents – while Chinappa squares up against the sixth-ranked Omneya Abdel Kawy, Pallikal meets the fifth-ranked Alison Waters. If the Indians can overcome them, they will meet each other in the last-eight.

Purple patch for Joshna

It’s a formidable task but both are riding high on confidence especially after their last victories. Chinappa has had a strong few months, and she has been able to sustain a high level of performance week in and week out. Since defending the Indian national title in July, she has triumphed at the Victorian Open and the NSCI Open, besides reaching the quarter-finals at the Australian Open.

She arrived in the USA in stellar form and started off the American Tour with a fantastic showing at last week’s Carol Weymuller Open where she made it to the semis. Four wins, among which was an upset of World No. 13 Emma Beddoes, brightened her prospects for the US Open and Chinappa did not disappoint.

The first round of the US Open saw her ruthlessly demolish competitor Annie Au. Chinappa was sharp, accurate and played a virtually error-free game, which totally stunned the Hong Kong player.

There’s no doubt the 29-year-old would like to continue this great run even against the World No. 6 when they meet in the Round of 16 on Tuesday.

Big win for Dipika against former World No. 4

Dipika, on the other hand, has been struggling a little on her return to the Tour after her wedding to cricketer Dinesh Karthik. The former World No. 10 had failed to register a single win in her three tournaments before entering the US Open. Most importantly, two of those three losses came in five-game matches. Clearly, keeping her focus intact in marathon encounters became a worrying factor.

But it is heartening to see the India No. 1 has finally been able to address the issue and reversed the trend in her tough first round match in Philadelphia. Joelle King is enjoying a wonderful return to form after being out of action for six months due to ruptured Achilles tendon. The former fourth-ranked Kiwi player had won the Australian Open in August and also reached last week’s Carol Weymuller Open final.

Dipika training with top Egyptian coach

Beating such an accomplished player is a much-required fillip for the 24-year-old Indian, and she will want to carry on in similar fashion. Besides, it should also indicate that Dipika’s recent training with renowned Egyptian coach Amir Wagih is moving in the right direction.

“I’ve been in America for the last month and a half training with Amir Wagih,” Pallikal said after her first round victory at the US Open. “When I lost in the first round of San Francisco I had to go back to the drawing board and figure out what went wrong. When I was 2-1 down, I just kept telling myself that Joelle had a great week last week, but she had to beat me and had to fight me so that was going through my head. I’m just glad to get to the second round of the U.S. Open; it’s my first time,” she added.

Big boost for Indian squash

Chinappa meeting Pallikal in the quarter-finals of a World Series tournament would give a hugely positive picture of the improvement of squash in the country. It would be a significant step forward for the rise of the status of this sport in India and Pallikal herself, agrees with this assessment.

“We’re both continually pushing each other to improve and I think women’s squash in India is (at) its best right now so hopefully we can keep performing well in this tournament,” she said.

Their last two international meetings have been thoroughly thrilling contests with Dipika carving out a four-game win and a narrow five-game win at the 2015 Granite Club Open semis and the 2014 Asian Games quarter-finals respectively.

Another such match would be more than welcome!