Nicol ends Dipika's campaign in the semis

Add as a preferred source on Google

Bengaluru, September 30: Indian ace Dipika Pallikal Karthik's dream run on the Professional Squash Association (PSA) circuit's Oracle NetSuite Open came to a grinding halt as she lost 3-11, 0-11, 5-11 to Malaysia's eight-time world champion Nicol David in the semifinals.

Coming into the last-four tie, which was her biggest PSA World Tour semifinal since 2014, Dipika was in red-hot form, having defeated world No.13 Emily Whitlock of England in the pre-quarterfinals and sixth seed and home favourite Olivia Blatchford in the quarterfinals.

But at the Bay Club Redwood Shores in San Francisco, Dipika proved no match for Nicol who took just 22 minutes to beat her opponent in the W50 Series tournament.

Nicol had recovered from match ball down to beat Victoria Lust in the previous round, but she was in charge of proceedings right from the off as she glided around court and gave Dipika no chance to launch any kind of attack, with the world No.21 failing to even amass a point in the second game.

Nicol will take on Sarah-Jane Perry in the final after she beat top seed Laura Massaro 11-9, 9-11, 11-8, 9-11, 11-7 in an all-English semifinal.

Despite the easy win, Nicol was all praise for Dipika.

"She's a dangerous player so I needed to be sharp from the word go. The court really worked for me and I found my lengths, I found my volleys and I was really pleased to win that 3-0 and play the way I played."