Ghosal, Chinappa, Pallikal enter semis

Saurav Ghosal and Joshna Chinappa on Friday entered the semifinals of the Asian Individual Squash Championship in men’s and women’s events here with contrasting wins. While Ghosal handed an easy 11-7, 11-7, 11-7 defeat to compatriot Vikram Malhotra, Chinappa held off Japan’s Misaki Kobayashi, the number 7 seed, 11-7, 11-3, 9-11, 12-10 in 35 minutes to advance to the last-four stage.

Both Ghosal and Chinappa were seeded second in the men’s and women’s singles.

Another Indian also booked a spot in the last four in women’s event as Dipika Pallikal Karthik outplayed Liu Tsz Ling 11-3, 11-6, 11-6 in 33 minutes.

Pallikal, seeded fourth, was confidence personified against Ling, the fifth seed from Hong Kong. Not for a moment the Indian lost focus and the result was a quick win. She will meet the top-seed Annie Au in semifinals.

HARIKA ADJUDGED BEST WOMAN PLAYER

Indian Grandmaster Harika Dronavalli ended her campaign on a high note with a win against Jakob Pfreundt of Germany at the Reykjavik Open here. She ended the tournament with six wins, two draws and two losses to finish 17th with seven points in the 10-round Swiss tournament which saw 267 players from across the globe competing for the coveted crown. The Indian was also adjudged the ‘best women’s player of tournament’ and gained two rating points.

SAF GAMES MEDALIST LIFTER FAILS DOPE TEST

South Asian Games gold medalist in weightlifting Sushila Panwar has failed out of competition random dope test for meldonium. Panwar, who was preparing for upcoming Commonwealth Weightlifting in September, a qualifying event for 2018 Commonwealth Games, has been provisionally suspended for the doping offence.