New Delhi: India's Dipika Pallikal fought hard against second seed Kasey Brown of Australia but lost 5-11, 5-11, 11-7, 11-7, 5-11 in the quarterfinals of the $36,500 WISPA Punj Lloyd Masters squash here on Friday.
Dipika, ranked 29, was on the offensive against the World No. 7 and won the two sets but also made numerous unforced errors.
Dipika began promisingly, taking a 3-0 lead in the first set but Kasey lifted her game to win the next six points. Dipika was slow with her movement in the first two sets and had difficulty in retrieving Kasey's well-placed drop shots. The Indian committed too many unforced errors, hitting the tin on a regular basis.
It looked like an easy straight set victory for Kasey but Dipika found her range and court movement in the third and the fourth sets. The Chennai-based girl stunned her seasoned opponent by hitting volley nicks and cross-court smashes at will to take the match into the decider.
A well-built Kasey was seen gasping for breath at the interval as the crowd cheered for the local girl at the Siri Fort Sports Complex. But Kasey raced to a 7-0 lead in the the final set and from there on a fightback from the Indian seemed unlikely.
"I had to go for my strokes as that was the only chance I had of beating Kasey," said Dipika.
"I wanted to keep the pace and I did that in the third and the fourth sets. I had my chances but she took the lead in the fifth set and I could not recover."
Dipika said she had the game to break into the top-10 but needed to be fitter.
"I will try to get into the top 20s by next year. This performance against a world-class player has given me the belief that I needed to beat the top players," said the 19-year-old.
In the other quarterfinal matches, fifth seed Annie Au of Hong Kong upset the fourth seed Jaclyn Hawkes of New Zealand 9-11, 11-7, 15-13, 11-9. Annie will meet Kasey in the semifinals.
Top seed Jenny Duncalf of Engalnd defeated Joey Chan of Hong Kong to set up a semifinal clash with Camille Serme of France. Camille scored a 11-7, 11-8, 11-3 victory over Malaysian Wee Wern.
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