Dipika Pallikal progress to San Francisco Open squash tournament semifinal

Chennai, September 28: India’s Squash player Dipika Pallikal entered into the semifinals of a Professional Squash Association (PSA) World Tour event, San Francisco Open squash tournament by defeating USA’s Olivia Blatchford by 13-11, 11-6, 11-9 on Thursday. 

Before this, she defeated the fourth-seeded Emily Whitlock in round one. she recorded her two wins back to back over seeded players after a long time. Since 2014, this is her biggest PSA World Tour semifinal.

In 2015, Pallikal had lost to Blatchford in the first round of the same event. But this year the 35-minute match brought the result to pallikal’s favor.

After winning the match Pallikal said that I have really worked hard this summer, I didn't get the results I wanted in China and Hong Kong and I just wanted to come here, play well and enjoy myself. Things are finally falling into place and we've got Ashraf el Karagui who has joined us as a national coach in India.

Pallikal will face Malaysia’s eight-time champion Nicol David in the semifinal on Friday. Nicol David is the no. 2 seeded player in the tournament.