Ghosal, Dipika to spearhead India in Hong Kong Open squash

New Delhi: Saurav Ghosal and Dipika Pallikal will spearhead India’s challenge in the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Squash Open beginning in Hong Kong on Monday. Unseeded Ghosal has a tough task at hand as he faces reigning world champion and title favourite Amr Shabana of Egypt in the opening round of the tournament, which is year’s fifth PSA Super Series championship. Shabana, seeded third in the USD 147,500 PSA World Tour event, come into the tournament riding on a 25-match unbeaten run in Hong Kong since beginning his record bid in the 2005 championship. He is also bidding to become the first player in history of the game to win six successive men’s titles.England’s new world number one Nick Matthew, who was forced to withdraw from the 2009 edition due an ankle injury, is top seed in the men’s event. In the women’s section, however, Dipika will have to play the qualifying event to make it to the main draw.World number one Nicol David of Malaysia is the favourite to claim the crown, which will be her record fifth women’s title in the USD 74,000 WISPA Gold event. PTI