Dipika sets up Nicol clash in San Francisco

Bengaluru, September 27: Indian ace Dipika Pallikal Karthik continued her dream run on the Professional Squash Association (PSA) circuit by reaching the semifinal of the Oracle NetSuite Open, W50 tournament in San Francisco.

The world No.21 upset sixth seed and home favourite Olivia Blatchford 13-11, 11-6, 11-9 to enter her biggest PSA World Tour semifinal since 2014.

The 26-year-old had lost to world No.17 Blatchford when they met at the first round of this tournament in 2015 but she was in fine form this time around as she took a one-game lead.

The golden girl from Chennai was always ahead in the next two games and she prevailed in both to wrap up a victory in 35 minutes to set up a semifinal clash with Malaysia's eight-time world champion Nicol David.

Report: @DipikaPallikal takes out US No.2 @LivBlatch to reach @ONOSquash semis ⬇️https://t.co/orPIRwwXjy #squash pic.twitter.com/GflLL1Cw3E
— PSA World Tour (@PSAWorldTour) September 27, 2017

"I've played Olivia all through the juniors and I knew that she was a tough opponent, we've had tough matches before," said Dipika.

"I've really worked hard this summer, I didn't get the results I wanted in China and Hong Kong and I just wanted to come here, play well and enjoy myself. Things are finally falling in place and we've got Ashraf El Karagui who has joined us as a national coach in India.

"He's been there for the last year, so things are picking up and I feel like I'm playing a lot better and I'm a lot more composed. He's been a very big influence in both today's and yesterday's wins and I'm just glad that I could do it for him because he has worked really hard for me."