Asian Squash Championship: Joshna Chinappa, Dipika Pallikal set up all-India final first time ever

Chennai: It will be an all-India final for the first time ever in the Asian Squash championship when Joshna Chinappa and Dipika Pallikal Karthik clash in the women's singles event.

The two Indian women made the final of the tournament with contrasting wins on Saturday.

While Pallikal, seeded fourth, upset top seed Annie Au of Hong Kong 11-9 7-11 11-7 11-9, the second seeded Chinappa made short work of Hong Kong's sixth-seed Tong Tsz Wing 11-6 11-4 11-8 to storm into the final.

In the first semifinal, Pallikal stunned Au in 50 minutes.

Starting brilliantly against the pre-tournament favourite, Pallikal took the opening game to lay down the marker. However, Au came back strongly to claim the second game with a series of impressive stroke-making.

Pallikal seized the initiative from thereon and kept Au off balance by staying aggressive.

The Chennai-based Pallikal closed out the match for a memorable win.

With this victory, Pallikal has posted only her third win over the Hong Kong player, ranked 11th in the world, in 10 meetings.

Chinappa, meanwhile, completely dominated her rival as she took the first two games easily before Wing posed a challenge in the third.

But the Indian shut her rival out to win in front of a cheering crowd at the Express Avenue mall here.

Earlier, men's top-seed Max Lee of Hong Kong ousted third seeded Malaysian Nafiizwan Adnan 12-10 11-6 11-5 in 51 minutes to book his spot in the final.