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Pallikal makes final of Tournament of Champions
Seventh seed Dipika Pallikal eliminated No.5 Jaclyn Hawkes of New Zealand 11-7, 14-12, 11-9 to enter the final of the Tournament of Champions at the Grand Central Station here on Wednesday.
Seventh seed Dipika Pallikal eliminated No.5 Jaclyn Hawkes of New Zealand 11-7, 14-12, 11-9 to enter the final of the Tournament of Champions at the Grand Central Station here on Wednesday.
The 20-year old Dipika, No.15 in the WISPA rankings, will take on Nathalie Grinham of the Netherlands, who beat Nour El-Sherbini (Egypt) 11-5, 14-12, 11-9 in the other semifinal.
In the previous rounds, Dipika accounted for American Olivia Blatchford 3-0, followed by a with a superlative performance to oust fourth seed Donna Urquhart of Australia.
World champ Nick Matthew and James Willstrop, who recently ousted him from the world No.1 ranking, will continue their decade of contention in the final of the first World Series tournament of the year.
Matthew repeated his victory in the World Open final in Rotterdam against Greg Gaultier, the former world number one from France, once again in four tight, fraught, and sometimes contentious games. The score was 11-8, 11-9, 9-11, 11-4.
Willstrop reached the final by outplaying Daryl Selby, the British national champion, winning 11-2, 11-3, 11-3 against an opponent who had little left after his earlier triumph against Karim Darwish.
Victory gives Willstrop a chance of his fourth World Series title in a row.
