Joshna Chinappa enters second round of 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.