Pallikal moves up to 15 in World squash rankings

New Delhi: Riding on her three WISPA title wins, India`s young woman squash sensation Dipika Pallikal on Tuesday moved up to a career-high 15th place in the world rankings.

Pallikal began 2011 at 29th spot and claimed her third WISPA title of the year in December in the Crocodile Challenge Cup in Hong Kong and that took her to number 17 in world rankings. She clinched her first WISPA title of the year in September by winning the Orange County Open in Irvine, California and notched up her second in the United States with another WISPA tour event victory. The 20-year-old Chennai girl also became the first Indian to reach the quarterfinals of the World Squash Open while she also made it to the semifinals of Buler Challenge Cup in Hong Kong and in World Tour Des Pyramides Open in France. She climbed to her career-best ranking of 24th in February last year, surpassing the earlier best world ranking by an Indian -- 27th by former national champion Misha Grewal in 1995. In the recently-released rankings published by the Women`s International Squash Players` Association (WISPA), Pallikal`s countrymate Joshna Chinappa finds herself at the 36th position. PTI