India assured of its first ever women’s singles medal in the Asian Games.
World No.21 Chinappa blanked 183rd ranked South Korea Song Sunmi 11-9 11-7 11-7 at the Yeorumul Squash Courts.
After top players Dipika Pallikal and Joshana Chinappa won their respective openers here today. They set up an exciting contest in the quarterfinals.
Indian girl’s doubles pair (Under-17) of Keyura Mopati and Kavipriya Selvam will also end their campaign with a bronze medal. They crashed out in the semifinals after going down to the Indonesian team. Putri Larasati and Melanni Mahamit of Indonesia 13-21, 19-21 in 24 minutes.
India has so far won four medals (all bronze) at the Asian Games since the sport was introduced in the 1998 Bangkok edition. Two of them have come courtesy Ghosal and the rest in men’s and women’s team event.
Men’s singles top seed Saurav Ghosal started his campaign with a an easy win over Ahmad Alsaraj of Jordan 11-2 11-4 11-3. The World No.16 and Asia No.1 faces rising Pakistani Nasir Iqbal in the quarterfinals tomorrow.
His teammate Harinder Pal Sandhu suffered a 4-11 6-11 2-11 beating at the hands of Kuwait’s Abdullah Almezayen in the round of 16.
The results: Women (first round): Dipika Pallikal bt Jinyue Gu (Chn) 11-6, 10-12, 11-6, 11-4; Joshana Chinappa bt Song Sunmi (Kor) 11-9, 11-7, 11-7.