Ghosal, Pallikal advance in British Open squash tourney

While Ghosal defeated junior champion Marwan El Shorbagy from Egypt in straight sets, Pallikal fought back from two game deficit to beat another Egyptian, Omneya Abdel Kawy 3-2.

Ghosal had little difficulty in getting past Marwan 11-7 11-6 11-5.

He will now face Peter Barker from England in the round of 16 tomorrow.

"I knew I'd have to play. I tried to be clinical from the start and it worked pretty well. Playing Peter will be tough, but there's no shortage of incentive with a quarter-final in the British Open for the winner, so hopefully I can play well again and it will be a good match," Ghosal said after the match .

In the women's event, Pallikal nearly crashed out of the tournament in round one after going two games down to Kaway, in a fractious and gritty tie.

The Indian star, however, turned it around as the Egyptian's fitness waned to pocket the match 8-11 9-11 11-9 11-5 11-5 in 70 minutes.

Pallikal will take on Raneem El Weleily of Egypt in her next round tomorrow.

"In the first two, I sat back a bit too much, and relaxed a bit too much. I probably thought, I will come back in the second, but you can't do that with a player of that calibre," Pallikal said.

"After that, I used the four corners, varied my angles. And I felt she was getting a bit tired, and stepped back a bit. I was lucky in the third though, I was down and in the fourth too, but at a crucial time, she got a conduct stroke, and that was very important in the match," she added.