Dipika Pallikal progresses, Joshna Chinappa loses at US Open squash

NEW DELHI: India's Dipika Pallikal returned to top form after two forgettable tournaments as she notched up one of the best wins of her career, outplaying fourth seeded Alison Waters of England in five games to enter the quarterfinals of the US Open squash in Philadelphia.

The Indian posted a 9-11 11-5 3-11 11-1 11-6 victory over her English rival.

Dipika began well and maintained a handy lead in the opening game until at 9-6 Alison, with a streak of five points in a row, managed to snatch the first game.

The swing in fortunes continued with each taking turns to dominate from there on. But Alison, who had a sore back, began to show signs of pain and struggle, even as Dipika made the most of it.

However, another Indian, Joshna Chinappa had little answer to the brilliance of hard-hitting Egyptian Omneya Abdel Kawy, the sixth seed.

Winning three straight games, the Egyptian completed the job inside half an hour.

Attacking shots and winning drops were the feature of Kawy's play and Joshna could not match up to that. The Egyptian won 12-10 11-6 11-5.

With this win, Kawy ensured that the two Indians did not meet in the next round. It will be Kawy, who will now play Dipika in the last eight.