Dipika romps into semi-finals

Top seed Dipika Pallikal brushed aside the challenge of Nouran El Torky of Egypt to advance to the semi-finals of the 13th World Junior Squash Championships in Chennai on Friday.

Playing before a cheering crowd, the Indian lass needed just 37 minutes to beat the fifth seeded Egyptian 11-5, 4-11, 11-8, 11-6.

She faces 13-year-old fourth seed Nour El Tayeb of Egypt in Saturday's semi-finals.

Tayeb, who recently became the youngest ever player to reach the final of a WISPA event, eliminated compatriot Salma Hany 11-7, 11-6, 11-1 in 21 minutes.

Having played three preliminary rounds without facing much resistance from her opponents, Pallikal was tested for the first time in the tournament, though briefly. The Indian, however, showed impeccable retrieving prowess despite losing focus in the second game that she dropped.

As in earlier matches, Pallikal raced to 7-4 in the first game and then scored four points in a row to take a deserving 1-0 lead.

In the second game though she lost concentration and committed a number of unforced errors. From 3-4, the Egyptian raced away to 8-3 before taking the game 11-4.

In the third and fourth games, Pallikal was unstoppable. She won the third game after breaking away from 7-all and maintained her fast-paced game to establish a 8-4 lead in the fourth before clinching the issue.

In the men's quarter-finals, top seed Mohamed El Shorbagy of Egypt beat Raphael Kandra of Germany 11-7, 7-11, 11-9, 11-8 in 44 minutes, while another Egyptian, Andrew Wagih Shoukry defeated Pakistan's Farhan Zaman 11-8, 11-7, 11-8 in 25 minutes.