Joshna Chinappa enters second round of Hong Kong Open

Joshna Chinappa (left) in action at the Hong Kong Open on Wednesday (Image Courtesy: Hong Kong Open)

Indian squash queen Joshna Chinappa celebrated her rise into the top 15 of the world rankings by storming into the second round of the $150,000 Cathay Pacific Sun Hung Kai Financial Hong Kong Open 2015 on Wednesday. The World No. 13 took 25 minutes to get past qualifier Megan Craig of New Zealand, 11-8, 11-9, 11-6.

Joshna, who usurped Dipika Pallikal as the country’s No. 1 squash player in December, has come to this tournament with a rich vein of form. She registered one of the best wins of her career at her last event at the Qatar Classic when she toppled the World No. 1 Raneem El Welily in the opening round. That confidence-boosting win should stand her in good stead at this week’s Hong Kong Open.

She, however, has a tricky opponent in the next round. Joshna faces the former World No. 4 Joelle King who beat her in four games the last time they met at the 2015 Carol Weymuller Open semi-finals.

Earlier, Chinappa’s compatriot Dipika Pallikal recorded the fastest win of the day when she beat the 16-year-old Habiba Mohamed in just 19 minutes for a place in the second round.

On Thursday, all the three top stars of Indian squash – Saurav Ghosal, Joshna Chinappa and Dipika Pallikal – will be in action as they seek places in the quarter-finals.