Dipika Pallikal storms into second round of Hong Kong Open

Dipika Pallikal (right) in action at the Hong Kong Open on Wednesday (image courtesy: Hong Kong Open)

A day after relinquishing her status as the country’s No. 1 squash player, Dipika Pallikal put up a power-packed performance to storm into the second round of the $150,000 Cathay Pacific Sun Hung Kai Financial Hong Kong Open 2015 on Wednesday. The World No. 16 took just 19 minutes to beat the Junior World Championship runner-up Habiba Mohamed of Egypt, 11-9, 11-2, 11-2.

The 16-year-old Mohamed is one of the fastest-rising talents and she reached two finals this year on the PSA/WSA Tour. She was brilliant in the opening game and lost to Pallikal, only narrowly, 9-11. But after that first-game setback, the young Egyptian could not do any damage to Dipika’s game as the former World No. 10 simply raised her level and raced away to victory.

Pallikal next faces the third seed Camille Serme of France for a place in the quarter-finals.

In a late match on Wednesday, the new India No. 1 and World No. 13 Joshna Chinappa will take on qualifier Megan Craig of New Zealand in her opening round.

About the author

Sudeshna is a veteran Indian Sports and International Tennis journalist as well as editor at Sportskeeda. She has an overall experience of over 10 years with top publications like The Bridge, Fox Sports Asia, and gained a keen interest in Indian sports since the 2002 Commonwealth and Asian Games when she was in school.

Sudeshna holds a Master's degree in Journalism and Mass Communication. She attends tournaments regularly and being a highly experienced journalist, she ensures she only contacts the correct people from her network for the most authentic information to be put in her articles.

Sudeshna’s favorite Indian athlete is PV Sindhu owing to her big-tournament performances. She also admires Tennis legend Rafael Nadal for his resilience and has witnessed the Spaniard in action at the French Open, due to which, Roland Garros is her all-time favorite Grand Slam tournament.

Neeraj Chopra’s gold medal win at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics made a lasting impact on Sudeshna. She has also interviewed him along with Badminton star Chirag Shetty and several other sports personalities. She has done on-ground reporting on multiple ITF tournaments along with the Premier Badminton League, Asian Boxing Championships and the Davis Cup.

When not using her skills and years of experience in crafting compelling content, Sudeshna likes to read, watch movies and travel.

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Edited by Staff Editor