Commonwealth Games: Pallikal-Chinappa enter women`s doubles squash final

Glasgow: India`s ace squash players Dipika Pallikal and Joshna Chinappa assured at least a silver medal by entering the final of the women`s doubles event in the 20th Commonwealth Games, here Saturday.

Pallikal and Chinappa beat Australian combination of Kasey Brown and Rachael Grinham 2-1 (11-9 7-11 11-4) to seal their place in the gold medal match, where they will face English pair of Jenny Duncalf and Laura Massaro. Earlier in the day, Saurav Ghosal and Pallikal crashed out of the mixed double event after being easily beaten in the quarterfinals by Australia`s David Palmer and Rachael Grinham. The India duo lost 2-0 (11-6 11-9) to their Australian opponents who rarely looked in any sort of trouble. India`s Harinder Pal Sandhu and Chinappa also lost a hard-fought battle against the second-seeded New Zealand pair of Martin Knight and Joelle King in the mixed-doubles quarter-finals. In a see-saw battle, the 10th-seeded pair of Sandhu and Joshana failed to hold their nerve in the third and final game as the duo lost 11-7 8-11 6-11 to dash India`s hopes of adding a medal to their tally. Termed as one of the most well-played squash matches in this edition of the Commonwealth Games, Sandhu and Joshana did not play bad squash but their opponents were just better on the day. Pairing up with Ghosal, Sandhu had also lost in the men`s doubles pre-quarterfinals.