Joshna, Dipika, Saurav enter Round of 16 at Hong Kong Open

Joshna and Dipika had easy wins over Megan Craig and Habiba Mohamed, but Saurav was made to sweat against 20th-ranked Steve Coppinger.

Published : Dec 02, 2015 17:40 IST

Saurav Ghosal won a marathon match against South African Steve Coppinger.

Top Indian squash stars, Saurav Ghosal, Dipika Pallikal and Joshna Chinappa, advanced to the Round of 16 at the Hong Kong Open, a PSA World Series event.

Joshna, now the highest ranked Indian at 13, took just 25 minutes to beat qualifier Megan Craig of New Zealand 11-8, 11-9, 11-6 and will face Joelle King in the pre-quarterfinals on Thursday. Dipika, ranked three places below Joshna, too had little difficulty in dispatching Habiba Mohamed of Egypt 11-9, 11-2, 11-2 and will take on Camille Sereme of France in the round of 16.

World No.18 Saurav won a marathon contest against 20th-ranked Steve Coppinger, beating the South African 9-11, 11-3, 12-10, 9-11, 11-9. He will next take on top-seed Mohamed Elshorbagy of Egypt.