The top-ranked Indian women’s squash players had contrasting fortunes at the prestigious $150, 000 Tournament of Champions in New York on Saturday as Joshna Chinappa won her opening round but Dipika Pallikal crashed out.
India No. 1 Chinappa, seeded 15th at the tournament, staged a brilliant comeback from two games down to edge past 29th-ranked Egyptian wildcard Kanzy Emad El-Defrawy, 8-11, 8-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-7 in a 59-minute marathon.
The 17th-ranked Pallikal did not enjoy the same fate and she lost 7-11, 10-12, 6-11 to Egyptian qualifier Mariam Metwally – ranked 34 places below her – in 34 minutes.
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Chinappa, who reached her career-best ranking of 13 in December, has a tough task next as she is up against the fifth seed Omneya Abdel Kawy of Egypt. Kawy has defeated the Chennai girl twice since October, their most recent encounter being a five-game thriller at the Qatar Classic in November.
The second round match is scheduled on Monday.
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About the author
Sudeshna Banerjee
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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