Dipika Leads Indian Charge In Chennai

India's second best woman squash star Dipika Pallikal hogged the limelight with a clinical upset over higher-ranked Irish opponent Aisling Blake to commence a fruitful day for home grown men and women in today's final qualifying matches of the PSA & WISPA Chennai Open at the Indian Squash Academy in Chennai.

Following her 11-8, 11-6, 11-5 victory in 31 minutes over Blake, ranked 24 places higher, Pallikal has a tough task ahead since being drawn to meet top seed Nicol David, the world number one from Malaysia, in the main draw of the $53,500 women's WISPA World Tour Gold event - the first of the year - that begins tomorrow.

David, playing in her first Tour event of the year, will be joined in the main draw by two further Malaysian qualifiers, Low Wee Wern and Delia Arnold - Wern despatching higher-ranked compatriot Sharon Wee in straight games.

England's Alison Waters, the world No5 from London, has been forced to withdraw from the event, suffering with tendonitis in her Achilles.

In the final qualifying round of the men's $25,000 PSA Tour event, Gaurav Nandrajog (ranked 174) was the lone local player among four Indians on view to bite the dust - going down fighting to higher-ranked Kristian Frost Olesen (107) of Denmark 11-9, 9-11, 6-11, 8-11 in a marathon 73 minutes.

But both Ritwik Bhattacharya, from Mumbai, and Harinder Pal Sandhu, from Chandigarn, both prevailed in straightforward fashion, while Mumbai-born Siddharth Suchde had an easy time against compatriot Vikas Jangra winning 11-7, 11-1, 11-5 in 30 minutes.

The men's title is also expected to be won by a Malaysian, with Penang-born top seed Ong Beng Hee lining up in the main draw against compatriot Ivan Yuen. Indian interest is led by Saurav Ghosal, the No4 seed from Chennai.

Women's qualifying finals:
Dipika Pallikal (IND) bt Aisling Blake (IRL) 11-8, 11-6, 11-5 (31m)
Delia Arnold (MAS) bt Joey Chan (HKG) 11-7, 11-5, 11-9 (39m)
Low Wee Wern (MAS) bt Sharon Wee (MAS) 11-5, 11-4, 11-5 (25m)
Donna Urquhart (AUS) bt Anaka Alankamony (IND) 11-3, 12-10, 12-10 (26m)

Men's qualifying finals:
Siddharth Suchde (IND) bt Vikas Jangra (IND) 11-7, 11-1, 11-5 (30m)
Ritwik Bhattacharya (IND) bt Stuart Crawford (SCO) 11-8, 8-11, 11-2, 13-11 (35m)
Harinder Pal Sandhu (IND) bt Elvinn Keo (MAS) 11-7, 11-6, 13-11 (38m)
Kristian Frost Olesen (DEN) bt Gaurav Nandrajog (IND) 9-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-8 (73m)