Cairo: India's top squash players Dipika Pallikal and Joshana Chinappa fought hard against higher-ranked opponents before losing their respective pre-quarterfinal in the World Championship here.


Dipika Pallikal

World number 16 Pallikal showed promise against third-ranked Raneem El Welily of Egypt before going down 11-7 5-11 3-11 6-11 in 50 minutes in a match played yesterday night. 22nd-ranked Chinappa got extremely close to the biggest win of her career against world number seven Low Wee Wern of Malaysia. The Indian earned the advantage of having a 2-1 lead in what turned out to be a long intense affair.

However, Wee Wern made a decisive comeback in the next two games for a 6-11 11-3 11-13 11-7 11-8 win. In other matches, England's defending champion Laura Massaro moved one step closer to a third successive appearance in the final of the premier event when she defeated Hong Kong's top-ranked player Annie Au.