Pallikal-Ghosal cruise into finals in squash event

Gold Coast, Apr 13 (PTI) The Indian duo of Dipika Pallikal and Saurav Ghosal stormed to the final of the squash mixed doubles event of the Commonwealth Games here today.

Pallikal and Ghosal overcame top seeds Joelle King and Paul Coll of New Zealand 2-1 in the semifinals.

In a match that lasted 50 minutes, the fifth seeded Indian pair lost the first game 9-11.

However, they fought back in the second game 11-8, levelling the tie at 1-1.

The match then went down to the wire with both teams toiling for victory with Pallikal and Ghosal eventually succeeding 11-10 in the third game.

In the women's doubles, defending champions Joshna Chinappa and Pallikal advanced into the semifinals. The Indian duo defeated the fifth seeded pair of Samantha Cornett and Nikki Todd of Canada 2-1 to claim a semifinal berth.

Chinappa and Dipika were off to a sluggish start going down 7-11 in the first game in just nine minutes. However, the experienced duo fought back strongly notching up a 11-5 win in the second game.

The experienced Indian combo then continued their assault and sealed the match in the third game 11-9.

They will face the English pair of Laura Massaro and Sarah-Jane Perry in the semifinals tomorrow.

In men's doubles, Vikram Malhotra and Ramit Tandon lost to England's Declan James and James Willstrop 1-2 to end their campaign.

Tandon and Malhotra started proceedings with a gritty 11-10 win in the first game but failed to hold on to the momentum, losing the tie 8-11 5-11