Dipika Pallikal ousted from Women's JP Morgan Tournament of Champions

NEW YORK: India's world No.12 Dipika Pallikal put up a spirited display before going down in straight games to Hong Kong's Annie Au in the Qualifying Finals of the Women's JP Morgan Tournament of Champions, here.

Pallikal, the highest-ranked player in the qualifiers, lost 8-11 9-11 5-11 in 33 minutes to Annie. With the ouster of the Chennai girl, the Indian challenge came to an end in the WSA Gold event at the Princeton Club. The Indian men's challenge had ended yesterday with the defeat of Saurav Ghosal, who lost his opening round match to Germany's Simon Rosner 2-3.