Incheon : Birthday-girl Dipika Pallikal assured India its first ever women’s singles squash medal at the Asian Games by beating compatriot Joshana Chinappa in a marathon quarterfinal after top seed Saurav Ghosal confirmed himself a third consecutive men’s singles medal here on Sunday.
World No.16 and Asia No.1 Ghosal got past a gritty 20-year-old from Pakistan, Nasir Iqbal, 11-6, 9-11 11-2, 11-9 in a tight quarterfinal lasting 58 minutes at the Yeorumul Squash Courts. The Indian faces a familiar opponent in 2006 champion Ong Beng Hee of Malaysia today.
Pallikal then showed grit and gumption to beat her long-time teammate Chinappa 7-11, 11-9, 11-8 15-17, 11-9 in a much hyped quarterfinal mainly for off-court reasons. The newly turned 23-year-old next confronts a mighty Nicol David, the World No.1 who has not lost a singles match since the sport was introduced in the 1998 Bangkok Games.
On a positive note, both Pallikal and Ghosal reaching semi-finals and assuring themselves of at least a bronze puts India on track for its best ever show at the continental event. India won three medals (all bronze) out of four categories at Guangzhou 2010 and this time they look good for medals in all four categories including the team events.
The 28-year-old Ghosal took control of the proceedings against Iqbal quite early and barring a minor slip in the second game, he was clinical in sealing the issue in his favour.
Ghosal took the third game in mere eight minutes and even though the 42-ranked Pakistani was leading 7-5 in the fourth, the Indian used his experience to come back and seal the match.
The women’s match turned out to be a pulsating contest as expected. In a roller-coaster battle, Chinappa clinched the opening game 11-7 in just nine minutes but Pallikal bounced back to draw level.
The higher-ranked Indian then wrapped up the third game to go 2-1 up. The fourth game, lasting 26 minutes, took a lot out of the two girls with Pallikal saving two game balls from 8-10. The game went as far as 15-15 before Chinappa found a way to take the match to the decider.
However, Pallikal did not give up and fought back brilliantly to outwit Chinappa 11-9 in the fifth and final game.
Both Chinappa and Pallikal had called the draw ‘unfortunate’ and the former had even considered a pullout claiming ‘manipulation’.
