Pallikal, Ghosal crash out in semifinals

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May 3: World champion Nicol David, handed Dipika Pallikal a 23-minute squash lesson in the women’s semi-finals of the 15th Asian Squash Championship here on Monday.

Gunning for her seventh Asian title, Nicol beat Dipika 11-5, 11-5, 11-2 and will will meet Rebecca Chiu in the final on Tuesday. In the men’s section, Saurav Ghosal went down to top-seed Mohd Azlan of Malaysia who will meet Pakistan’s Aamir Atlas Khan in the final.
Pallikal, ranked 37 places below Nicol strove hard but the gulf in class grew wider as the game wore on. There were numerous rallies but Nicol’s consistency ensured Dipika never got an inch to plan her kills.
Th Indian however had a few words of praise from the champion. “Dipika has made tremendous strides in a short time. Seeing her coming up well in a few rallies, I realised I would be in danger if I gave her space to move. She did not give any easy points,” said Nicol.
In the first semi-final Rebecca had to stretch hard to get the better of a much younger , Joey Chan. The first two games produced fast-paced action and there was a dearth of long rallies.
After claiming the first game, Rebecca rode the momentum to clinch a close second game.
With nothing left to lose, Chan counterattacked well to close the gap. Rebecca fought hard but Chan was not to be denied this time.
The fourth game was a marathon affair lasting 14 minutes. After squandering five game points Chan finally produced a fine forehand winner to draw level. Rebecca also had a match point that was frittered away with a loose backhand crosscourt.
Fitness was a concern for both players in the final game. Looking drained Rebecca and Chan were more intent on slowing down the pace than go on the offensive. Rebecca proved better with her deft touches near the wall that gave her five straight points and helped her close the game with further anxiety.
In the men’s semi-finals, Aamir Atlas Khan required just 31 minutes to dispose of his compatriot Yasir Ali Butt 11-6, 11-7, 11-0. Using his long levers to good effect, Khan did extremely well in quelling the challenge posed by Butt.
The second semi-final was also a damper with Saurav unable to find his bearings. The national champion kept his opponent on court for 44 minutes but was not in with a realistic chance at any point of time.