Indian top seed beats Japan’s Misaki Kobayashi in Chennai showdown
By HOWARD HARDING – Squash Mad Correspondent
The four-event Women’s JSW WSA Indian Squash Challenger Circuit came to an appropriate close today in Chennai when Indian squash star Dipika Pallikal claimed her second title, winning the WSA Tour 10 Event No4 at the Indian Squash Academy.
Top seed Pallikal, the world No12 from Chennai, faced second seed Misaki Kobayashi in the final. The highest-ranked Japanese player of all-time, ranked 27 places lower, reached the climax without dropping a game.
The local star set a fast pace and kept up the pressure to elicit errors from Kobayashi. The Tokyo-born 24-year-old held her own in the third game – but Pallikal broke away midway through the game to close out the match 11-6, 11-2, 11-8 after 35 minutes.
“It was a good win for me,” said Pallikal after picking up the ninth WSA World Tour title of her career. “This is my second title of the year and to play in front of family and friends is always nice.
“I’m happy with my squash this week and hope to carry on my form to Monte Carlo next week.”
India’s first professional squash circuit brought 108 players together, competing in four tournaments across three cities.
“This circuit is one of our key sponsorships,” said Gopul Hosur, Vice President of Corporate Relations for the JSW Group and the tournament’s chief guest (pictured above flanked by Pallikal and men’s champion Harinder Pal Sandhu).
“We’ve found the response has been tremendous. In years to come, we hope to keep increasing our promotion of squash,” added Hosur.
JSW WSA Indian Circuit No4, Chennai, India.
1st round:
[1] Dipika Pallikal (IND) bt Harshit Kaur Jawanda (IND) 11-6, 11-4, 11-3 (29m)
[Q] Lakshya Ragavendran (IND) bt [7] Aparajitha Balamurukan (IND) 14-12, 11-9, 4-11, 12-10 (43m)
[3] Siyoli Waters (RSA) bt [Q] Urwashi Joshi (IND) 11-6, 11-3, 11-4 (18m)
[6] Sivasangari Subramanian (MAS) bt Sammer Anjum (PAK) 12-10, 11-3, 11-4 (33m)
[5] Cheyna Tucker (RSA) bt Sadia Gul (PAK) 11-6, 11-8, 11-8 (23m)
[4] Birgit Coufal (AUT) bt [Q] Sunayna Kuruvilla (IND) 11-6, 11-8, 7-11, 6-11, 11-6 (67m)
Satomi Watanabe (JPN) bt [8] Sachika Ingale (IND) 11-5, 7-11, 11-4, 11-8 (46m)
[2] Misaki Kobayashi (JPN) bt [Q] Ashita Pranaya Bhengra (IND) 11-2, 11-1, 11-2 (16m)
Quarter-finals:
[1] Dipika Pallikal (IND) bt [Q] Lakshya Ragavendran (IND) 11-4, 9-11, 11-2, 11-3 (37m)
[3] Siyoli Waters (RSA) bt [6] Sivasangari Subramanian (MAS) 12-10, 11-8, 12-10 (42m)
[4] Birgit Coufal (AUT) bt [5] Cheyna Tucker (RSA) 12-10, 4-11, 5-11, 11-5, 11-7 (47m)
[2] Misaki Kobayashi (JPN) bt Satomi Watanabe (JPN) 11-3, 11-5, 11-2 (26m)
Semi-finals:
[1] Dipika Pallikal (IND) bt [3] Siyoli Waters (RSA) 11-4, 10-12, 11-8, 11-5 (42m)
[2] Misaki Kobayashi (JPN) bt [4] Birgit Coufal (AUT) 11-6, 11-4, 11-5 (28m)
Final:
[1] Dipika Pallikal (IND) bt [2] Misaki Kobayashi (JPN) 11-6, 11-2, 11-8 (35m)
Picture by Nitesh Square
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