Pallikal enters pre-quarters of British Open squash

India's Dipika Pallikal defeated Denmark's Line Hansen in a marathon first round encounter to enter the pre-quarterfinals of the Allam British Open Squash Championships here.
In what has been the longest match of the tournament so far, world number 15 Pallikal had to dug deep for 76 minutes to get the better of her Danish opponent 13-11 14-16 11-6 8-11 11-4 at Ponterfact, about fifty miles from here.
The round of 16 matches will now be played in an outdoor glass court of the multi-purpose KC Stadium.
Pallikal will face local favourite Laura Massaro in her next round tomorrow.
In their last encounter at the 2012 Australian Open semi-finals, Pallikal lost to her English opponent.

In the men's competition, India's Saurav Ghosal will face fourth seed Gregory Gaultier of France in the pre-quarterfinals later today.