Malaysians Nicol David and Mohd. Azlan advanced a step closer to defending their titles at the Asian Senior Squash Championships with easy wins over their rivals on Saturday.
The showstopper of the day, however, was the pre-quarterfinal contest between Dipika Pallikal and Low Wee Wern wherein the local favourite came back from the dead to register a victory in five games over 65 minutes.
Dipika lost the first game 10-12 and trailed 4-9 in the second before she put a lid on her cack-handed ways. Drop-shots abounded from her racket thereafter and although Wern snatched the fourth game to tie the match, Dipika stepped on it after being locked at 8-8, taking the decider 11-8.
Easy for Joshna
Joshna Chinappa adopted a distinctly dissimilar course into the quarterfinals, gamboling past Korea's Eun Ok Park 11-3, 11-7, 11-9 in 23 minutes. Joshna will next take on second seed Rebecca Chiu of Hong Kong, while Dipika plays Misaki Kobayashi of Japan.
On what turned out to be a decent day for the host nation, four Indian men also made it through to Sunday. Third-seeded Saurav Ghosal and veteran Ritwik Bhattacharya coasted through their matches, while Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu rallied twice from a game down to finagle an 8-11, 11-3, 9-11, 11-9, 11-6 win over Kuwait's E.Alhosaini Bader. Siddharth Suchde also ensured his presence in the pre-quarters with a no-fuss victory over Shinnosuke Tsukue of Japan.
Saurav next faces Pakistan's Waqar Mehboob. Ritwik's opponent in the pre-quarters will be a toughie – second seed Ong Beng Hee.
Earlier, World No.1 Nicol David paraded her class on centre court with a straight-games win over Elise Ng of Hong Kong. Mohd. Azlan, too, was barely tested in his 25-minute defeat of Ammar Al Temimi.
The results:
Men's singles: Second round: Mohd. Azlan (Mas) bt Ammar Al Temimi (Kuw) 11-2, 11-6, 11-6; Anson Kwong (HKG) bt Gaurav Nandrajog 10-12, 11-4, 11-5, 11-4; Abdulla Almezayen (Kuw) bt Lee Se Hyun (Kor) 14-12, 11-5, 8-11, 11-7; Max Lee (HKG) bt Mahesh Mangoankar 11-2, 11-8, 11-6; Farhan Mehboob (Pak) bt Leo Au (HKG) 11-7, 11-5, 11-8; Ivan Yuen (Mas) bt Sandeep Jangra 16-14, 11-6, 12-14, 11-4; Waqar Mehboob (Pak) bt Abhishek Pradhan 12-10, 11-4, 11-6.
Saurav Ghosal bt Bumpei Kawano (Jpn) 11-2, 11-5, 11-3; Aamir Atlas Khan (Pak) bt Yuta Fukui (Jpn) 11-5, 11-3, 11-1; Dick Lau (HKG) bt Salem F. Moahammad (Kuw) 11-8, 8-11, 10-12, 11-1, 11-7; Siddharth Suchde bt Shinnosuke Tsukue (Jpn) 11-3, 11-7, 11-9; Mohd. Nafiizwan (Mas) bt Takanori Shimizu (Jpn) 11-6, 11-8, 11-4; Yasir Ali Butt (Pak) bt Ravi Dixit 11-6,11-6, 9-11, 11-7; Harinderpal Singh bt Bader E. Alhosaini (Kuw) 8-11, 11-3, 9-11, 11-9, 11-6; Ritwik Bhattacharya bt Naresh Kumar 11-7, 11-4, 11-13, 11-6; Ong Beng Hee (Mas) bt Soh Timothy (Sin) 11-3, 11-2, 11-8.
First round: Mohd. Azlan (Mas) bt Ali Shuhaib (Irq) 11-4, 11-0, 11-5; Ammar Al Temimi (Kuw) bt Wang Junjie (Chn) 11-6, 11-3, 11-1; Gaurav Nandrajog bt Nigel Koh (Sin) 11-3, 11-7, 11-5; Abdulla Almezayen (Kuw) bt Vikas Jangra 11-4, 11-6, 11-4; Lee Se Hyun (Kor) bt Deepak Mishra 11-5, 11-1, 11-6; Max Lee (HKG) bt Yasir Issadeen (Sri) 11-3, 11-6, 11-8; Saurav Ghosal bt Falah F. Mohammad (Kuw) 11-3, 11-4, 9-11, 11-4; Bumpei Kawano (Jpn) bt Naveen Jangra 17-15, 11-9, 16-14; Abhishek Pradhan bt Yang Wen-Chang (Tpe) 11-5, 11-2, 11-2; Waqar Mehboob (Pak) bt Lee Seung Joon (Kor) 11-8, 11-5, 11-5; Ivan Yuen (Mas) bt Vivian Rhamanan (Sin) 11-9, 11-5, 11-9.
Leo Au (HKG) bt Binura Jayasuriya (Sri) 11-8, 11-3, 11-7; Farhan Mehboob (Pak) bt Hussein Abdullah (Irq) 11-3, 11-4, 11-5; Aamir Atlas Khan (Pak) bt Ching-Han Chen (Tpe) 11-2, 11-0, 11-5; Dick Lau (HKG) bt Rasool Abdullah (Irq) 11-4, 11-2, 11-4; Siddharth Suchde bt Akshay Deepak 11-7, 11-3, 11-6; Mohd. Nafiizwan (Mas) bt Vrishab Kotian 11-7, 11-1, 11-4; Ong Beng Hee (Mas) bt Shen Jiaqi (Chn) 11-6, 11-3, 11-8; Naresh Kumar bt Ahmad A. Al Randi (Kuw) 11-5, 6-11, 11-6, 11-9; Ritwik Bhattacharya bt Lee Seung Taek (Kor) 11-6, 11-2, 11-9; Harinderpal Singh bt Gihan Suwaris (Sri) 12-10, 11-6, 11-8; Ravi Dixit bt Hasan Abdullah (Irq) 11-6, 11-4, 11-5;
Women's singles: Pre-quarterfinals: Nicol David (Mas) bt Elise Ng (HKG) 11-6, 11-6, 11-5; Rebecca Chiu (HKG) bt Anaka Alankamony 11-6, 11-8, 11-4; Song Sun Mi (Kor) bt Sharon Wee (Mas) 11-9, 5-11, 5-11, 12-10, 11-9; Dipika Pallikal bt Low Wee Wern (Mas) 10-12, 12-10, 11-7, 8-11, 11-8; Misaki Kobayashi (Jpn) bt Annie Au (HKG) 5-11, 11-8, 11-7, 12-10; Delia Arnold (Mas) bt Chinatsu Matsui (Jpn) 11-3, 7-11, 11-5, 10-12, 11-5; Joey Chan (HKG) bt Kim Ga Hye (Kor) 11-5, 10-12, 11-0, 11-9; Joshna Chinappa bt Park Eun Ok (Kor) 11-3, 11-7, 11-9.
First round: Nicol David (Mas) bt Gu Jinyue (Chn) 11-2, 11-3, 11-6; Misaki Kobayashi (Jpn) bt Surbhi Misra 11-8, 11-6, 11-8; Dipika Pallikal bt Jiang Li (Chn) 11-0, 11-2, 11-4; Low Wee Wern (Mas) bt Gayara Jayasuriya (Sri) 11-3, 11-3, 11-1; Sharon Wee (Mas) bt Kim Ar Huyn (Kor) 11-4, 11-4, 11-6; Song Sun Mi (Kor) bt Miwa Maekawa (Jpn) 11-6, 11-8, 11-8; Elise Ng (HKG) bt Aparajitha B. 11-3, 11-8, 11-7; Delia Arnold (Mas) bt Damindi Udangawa (Sri) 11-0, 11-3, 11-1; Rebecca Chiu (HKG) bt Kozue Onizawa (Jpn) 11-9, 11-2, 12-10; Anaka Alankamony bt Xiu Chen (Chn) 11-5, 8-11, 11-6, 11-5; Park Eun Ok (Kor) bt Anwesha Reddy 7-11, 11-7, 11-2, 14-12; Joshna Chinappa bt Dulakshi Elikewela (Sri) 11-2, 11-3, 11-5; Joey Chan (HKG) bt Ankita Sharma 11-2, 11-6, 11-1; Kim Ga Hye (Kor) bt Maria Toor (Pak) 11-8, 11-7, 11-8; Chinatsu Matsui (Jpn) bt Saumya Karki 11-7, 11-4, 11-5.
