Dipika Pallikal Wins Meadowood Winnipeg For 6th Career Title from WSA Media
February 4, 2013 - Dipika Pallikal took the Meadowood Pharmacy Open by storm to claim the sixth WSA title of her career.
The 21-year-old Indian stormed through the opening two round of the WSA
Tour15 event in Winnipeg, Canada, defeating qualifier Laura Pomportes
and No.7 seed Amanda Landers-Murphy in straight games. Playing
the 60th WSA event of her career, Pallikal then faced a resolute
challenge from Sarah-Jane Perry of England in the semi-final, dropping
the second game and just squeezing through a 16-14 tiebreak in the
third before ending the contest in four games.
Second seed Joey Chan of Hong Kong awaited the world No.15 in the
final, having similar results in her early matches. The
24-year-old dispatched Czech qualifier Olga Ertlova and Englishwoman
Emma Beddoes in three-games to ensure a semi-final place, before coming
from a game behind to beat Misaki Kobayashi of Japan in four.
Pallikal’s tenth WSA final proved too much experience for the world
No.19, as the Indian closed out a tight first game. Chan altered
her approach in the second game in favour of a more attacking
strategy. This tactical switch worked well in the opening stage
of the game, before Pallikal adjusted her play to combat her
opponent. Some timely winners extended the top seed’s lead to two
games, and a continuation of this form saw her run out a 6-0 lead in
the third game. Chan was unable to combat the increased pressure
from the Indian and was only able to scrape back a few points before
Pallikal closed out the contest.
Afterwards, Pallikal thanked the tournament organisers and sponsors, as
well as her coach, Sarah Fitz-Gerald. She mentioned that it was
great to see such big crowds supporting WSA squash in Winnipeg.
The 4th annual Meadowood Pharmacy Open saw the highest calibre of
competition it has seen in its four year existence, following the
highest ranked winner in its history claiming the 2013 title.