19 November,2010 12:19 PM IST | | Agencies
Indian squash players Dipika Pallikal and Joshna Chinappa fought their heart out but eventually ran out of steam against top-ranked Malaysian rivals to bow out of the Asian Games' individual competition here today.
Joshna, ranked 37th in the world, gave a real scare to third seeded Malaysian Low Wee Wern, ranked 16th globally, by claiming the first two sets before the latter fought back to grab the remaining three and edge past the Indian woman 3-2 in their quarterfinal clash.
Wern won the 61-minute battle 7-11 9-11 11-8 11-9 11-3 to enter the semifinals. Deepika, ranked 36th in the world, also gave a good account of herself against world number one and top seed Nicol David of Malaysia by taking a set off the title-favourite before being beaten 3-1.
Deepika lost the 38-minute quarterfinal encounter 7-11 9-11 11-8 11-9. India coach Cyrus Poncha praised the performance of the two girls and said they lost after giving a fight.
"Both played very well today, but still lost. Both put up good shows. We are now looking forward to the team event. We will try to make up for the disappointment in the individual event and get a medal there," he said.
Dipika said she could have won the first game that she eventually lost before making it 1-1 by winning the second.
"I had a chance in the first game to win it. Then I won the second which gave me a lot of confidence," she said.
However, she conceded she lost to a much superior opponent.
"In the end I lost because my opponent was just too strong," she said.
