Out of action for a while through an injury, Joshna Chinappa, who consequently slipped to rank 51, made a strong impact in the ongoing Macao squash Open by reaching the semifinals on Friday.
Joshna, who had to come through the qualifiers, defeated third seed Samantha Teran of Mexico 11-9, 8-11, 11-8, 11-8 in the first round. In the quarterfinal, she beat Misaki Kobayashi of Japan 11-9, 9-11, 13-11, 9-11, 11-6. She next faces top seed Joelle King of New Zealand.
However, the highest-ranked Indian player at No. 12, Dipika Pallikal, seeded two, went past beat Liu Kwai Chi of Macao 11-3, 11-2, 11-1 in the first round before going down fighting to Omneya Abdel Kawy. The Egyptian, who is also on a comeback trail, edged out the Indian 9-11, 11-5, 6-11, 14-12, 11-7.
