Indian squash player Dipika Pallikal notched up a stunning victory against former World number one Rachael Grinham of Australia to clinch the Macau Open title at Macau today.
The 22-year-old had reached the final defeating Rachael's younger sister Natalie, a former World No.2, currently ranked eighth in the WSA rankings.
In the summit clash, Dipika held her nerves in the crucial moments to register a 12-10, 5-11, 11-7, 11-9 win over Rachael in a 42-minute contest. It is the seventh Women's Squash Association (WSA) title of Dipika's career.
"It was a good win. I had trained well for the tournament and I am happy with the victory," said World No.17 Dipika, the first Indian to break into the top-10.
"Beating top ranked players gave me a lot of confidence. They are all experienced players on the circuit and It will help me to do well in the future. I am looking forward to many such wins," added the Indian, who had beaten another higher-ranked player, Kasey Brown of Australia, in a New York tournament earlier in the month.
She now play in the China Open next week.
Meanwhile, top Indian men's player Sourav Ghosal lost 8-11 11-9 8-11 7-11 to top seed Omar Mosaad in an 81-minute semifinal match.
Omar lead the opening game 3-1, when an injury to Sourav stopped the game temporarily. After a quick treatment, the Indian was back in the court and he soon leveled the score at 6-6. But the injury had left him uncomfortable at the court as Omar wrapped up the first set 11-8.
Saurav and Omar fought tooth and nail and from 6-6, the Indian surged ahead to 10-8, before winning it 11-9. The pair traded blows in the third all the way to 8-all but an unlucky point at a crucial moment gave the momentum back to Omar, who finished off the next rally to win 11-8.
In the next, from 3-all, Omar moved ahead to 9-6 and then with the help of a few brilliant shots, he won the next two points to finally wrap it up.
