WAC lifts Air Force Table Tennis trophy
CHANDIGARH, Jul 4, (UNI): The Western Air Command (WAC) lifted the team championship trophy in the Air Force Table Tennis Championship 2008, which concluded at the Chandigarh Air Force Station.
The silver trophy went to the Air HQ team while the bronze went to the Maintenance Team. Air Commodore SRK Nair, AOC 12 Wing Air Force, gave away the trophies at the concluding ceremony held here today.
In the final match played during the closing ceremony today, Cpl V Dixit beat Cpl SK Ghosh by 4-3 in a nail biting finish to clinch the gold medal in the individual category.
In the open doubles, LAC P Kumar and LAC M S Digari bagged the gold medal defeating Cpl G Dixit and Cpl V Dixit in the final held earlier.
The Championship was held in three categories namely team championship, open singles and doubles singles.
A total of eight teams--Air Headquarters, Western Air Command, South Western Air Command, Eastern Air Command, Central Air Command, Southern Air Command, Maintenance Command and Training Command participated in the championship.
The aim of the Championship was to select the Air Force table tennis team, which would be representing the Indian Air Force (IAF) in the forthcoming inter institutional zonal and senior national table tennis championships.

Hamza bounces back to win BMC Gold Race
LONDON, Jul 4 (UNI): India's Chatholi Hamza, bounced back as he clocked 3:40.90s to win the first place in the 1500 m race in BMC Gold race held at Watford here.
Hamza beat Steve Davies (3:45.92s) of Belgrave and Daniel Pettit (3:48.27s) of Newham and Essex Beagles with a big margin yesterday.
Hamza, meanwhile, also expressed confidence to achieve Olympic qualification in Stockholm on July 8.
Sajeesh Joseph won the men's 800m race, while Sinimole Paulose won the women's 800m with a timing of 2:03.87s.
It's been over a month since Indian athletes are training at Tessa Sanderson's Newham Sports Academy at Newham.
Indian athletic team coach Dr Nikolai expressed his satisfaction over the training and performances in the competition.
Indian athletic team took a tour of the Olympic site which is under construction and will now move to Stockholm for Sollentuna Grand Prix on July 8.

India placed second with 4 golds
in Asian Judo Championships
NEW DELHI, Jul 4 (UNI): Amit Kumar, Balinder, Sandhya Devi andPooja Dhanda bagged gold medals in their respective weightcategories as India were placed second with eight medals in thesecond Asian Youth Judo Championships held in Yemen.
Along with four golds, India also bagged a silver and three silver medals yesterday.
According to the information received here, Balinder (42kg), Sandhya Devi (48 kg) and Pooja Dhanda (57 kg) overpowered the Judo players of Kazakhstan while Amit Kumar (50 kg) defeated the player from Sriyan.
India further swelled its medal tally as Ichal Devi H (63 kg) won the lone silver for the country, while Neha Thakur, Sushila Devi and Romen Singh won a bronze medal each.
India had sent 12 (six Boys and six Girls) players for the Championships.
After their particiation in the ongoing Championship, the Indian team will directly go from Yemen to Republic of Sakha (Russian Federation) to participate in the fourth Children of Asia International Sports Games which are scheduled to be held from July 4 to 11.

Massa crashes in British GP practice
SILVERSTONE, Jul 4 (Reuters): Ferrari's championship leader Felipe Massa crashed heavily but still set the fastest time in today's opening free practice for the British Grand Prix.
Massa, the first Brazilian to lead the Formula One standings since the late Ayrton Senna in 1993, skidded on oil deposited on the track by the Renault of double world champion Fernando Alonso.
The Ferrari spun at the 210kph Stowe corner, slamming backwards into the wall with 33 minutes of the session remaining.
Massa stepped out unhurt but the car suffered considerable damage to the rear. The red flags came out as marshals removed the wreckage and cleared oil from the track in an 18 minute stoppage.
Alonso had pulled up at the same corner only minutes previously, with a plume of smoke billowing from the engine of his Renault.
Massa, winner of three races so far this season, had been top of the timesheets when he crashed after completing eight timed laps and nobody was able to go faster when the session re-started.
His best lap of one minute 19.575 seconds was well inside the 2007 pole position time of 1:19.997 set by McLaren's Lewis Hamilton.
McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen was second fastest, in 1:19.587, with Hamilton -- in need of a home win after two races without a point -- third and ahead of Ferrari's world champion Kimi Raikkonen.
Massa leads BMW-Sauber's Robert Kubica by two points after eight races, with Raikkonen in third place a further three behind.
Hamilton is 10 points behind Massa with all four drivers taking it in turns to lead the championship over the last four races.

Zheng focused on Olympic doubles despite Wimbledon run
BEIJING, Jul 4 (Reuters): Zheng Jie's sensational run to the semi-finals at Wimbledon has given her the confidence to focus on her singles game, but only after her bid to defend China's Olympic doubles crown in Beijing next month.
Zheng won the Wimbledon and Australian Open doubles titles in 2006 with long-time partner Yan Zi and the pair are aiming to repeat the feat of Athens gold medallists Sun Tiantian and Li Ting in Beijing.
"After the Olympics I might lean to the singles a little bit more," Zhen, who will turn 25 tomorrow, told the Shanghai Morning Post.
"My focus at the Olympics is still the doubles. Yan Zi and I have a better chance in it and we have been preparing for it for the whole year."
In the best performance by a Chinese player at a grand slam to date, wildcard Zheng beat top seed Ana Ivanovic, 15th seed Agnes Szavay and 18th seed Nicole Vaidisova, bowing out to Serena Williams after a second set tiebreak in the semi-finals.
Zheng was ranked a lowly 133rd in the world on arrival at the All England Club after an ankle injury ruled her out for much of last season.
Before the injury she had won 10 doubles titles with Yan and three singles titles but added only the Sydney doubles title after returning this season.
The China Tennis Association (CTA) has targeted the women's doubles gold at the Aug 8-24 Games and deputy director Gao Shenyang said earlier this week that it would remain Zheng's priority.
Zheng has qualified for singles and doubles for the Aug 8-24 Games but the competition will be considerably tougher than when she won both golds at the 2006 Asian Games in Doha.
"Everybody wants an Olympic gold medal and I feel it is more likely to happen in the doubles," Zheng said.

PCB hopes to assuage CT security fears at ICC Annual Conference
LAHORE, Jul 4 (UNI): The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is confidentthat a "reassuring presentation" to be made at the ICC AnnualConference in Dubai today will help put an end to the uncertaintysurrounding this September's Champions Trophy.
PCB's chief operating officer, Shaftaq Nagmi told 'The News' yesterday that the ICC officials have made the presentation based on reports received from security experts who have visited Pakistan in the recent past.
"We believe that it's a positive presentation that should assuage any security fears in Pakistan during the Champions Trophy," Nagmi said.
He said cricket chiefs from the competing Champions Trophy nations will be attending the annual conference.
"It (the conference) will be a good platform to wipe out any fears related to the Champions Trophy," said Naghmi. "We have time again said that Pakistan is a completely safe place for visiting sports persons and tomorrow's presentation will give a similar message," he added.
Pakistan are making arrangements for the successful hosting of the eight-nation Champions Trophy 'the biggest ICC event after the quadrennial World Cup'.
However, the clouds of uncertainty have been hanging over the event following a report from Australia, New Zealand and England that several of their star players were considering boycotting the Champions Trophy because of security concerns.
Australia, who boycotted their tour to Pakistan earlier this year, have been quite open in their reluctance and their skipper Ricky Ponting and Andrew Symonds have voiced their apprehensions. There have been reports that most of the leading Australian cricketers would pull out of the event if Pakistan do go on to host it.
However, Pakistani officials remain confident that the tournament will be held in Pakistan as scheduled.
Prime Minister of Pakistan Yousuf Raza Gillani on Wednesday night promised to back the PCB for the Champions Trophy.

Indian football team to play against Gouevia Select on July 6
NEW DELHI, Jul 4 (UNI): The Indian football team, on its 12-day tour to Portugal, will play their first practice match against Gouveia Select in the mountain city of Gouveia, on July 6.
After the game, Gouveia city Mayor will host a dinner for the Indian team in the presence of India's ambassador to Portugal.
The 27-member Indian team arrived in Portugal yesterday. They will play three practice matches against different clubs before returning for a camp ahead of AFC Cup to be held in Hyderabad from July 30 to August 10.

Paes-Dlouhy semi stopped due to bad light
LONDON, Jul 4 (UNI): In a keenly fought encounter, Indian tennisace Leander Paes and his Czech partner Lukas Dlouhy were held3-3 in the fourth set by the Canadian-Serbian pair of Daniel Nestorand Nenad Zimonjic in the Wimbledon doubles semi-final before playwas suspended for the day due to bad light. The match will resume today.
Nestor and Zimonjic were leading with the score at 7-6 (7-4), 4-6, 6-1, 3-3 when play was stopped.
After losing the first set 7-4 in the tie-breaker, Peas-Dlouhy made a strong comeback to prevail 6-4 in the second set.
But they failed to keep up the momentum as the Canadian-Serbian combination claimed the third set 6-1 to regain the lead.

ICC names Lloyd as Gavaskar's successor
DUBAI, Jul 4 (UNI): Legendary former West Indies captainClive Lloyd was today named to succeed Sunil Gavaskar as thenew chairman of the ICC Cricket Committee.
Lloyd was selected by the ICC Board ahead of former Pakistan captain Majid Khan who was the other nominee for the post.
According to sources, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) withdrew Majid's nomination after he launched a scathing attack on the PCB, for sacking senior official Saleem Altaf and its alleged failure to run the game properly.
Majid also called for the public accounts committee of the National Assembly to probe the financial affairs of the board and blamed it for the increasing indiscipline among the players.
Meanwhile, Michael Beloff was granted another term as Chairman of the ICC Code of Conduct Commission.

Gymnast Hamm could miss Games after failing test
LONDON, Jul 4 (Reuters): American gymnast Morgan Hamm's participation in next month's Beijing Olympics hangs in the balance after he failed a drugs test at a selection event in May, USA gymnastics said today.
Hamm, the twin brother of 2004 all-round Olympic champion Paul Hamm, returned a positive test after taking a prescribed anti-inflammatory medication.
The 25-year-old, who won a silver medal in the team competition in the Athens Games, has been issued a warning by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).
"USA Gymnastics will review this situation to determine how this may impact his qualification to the 2008 US Olympic team," USA Gymnastics said in a statement.
USADA said: "The doping offence involved the use of a prescribed anti-inflammatory medication under the care of a physician but without first seeking a therapeutic use exemption as required by the applicable rules.
"Hamm tested positive for triamcinolone acetonide, a glucocortico steroid, on May 24, 2008."
Hamm was picked for the U.S. Olympic team at last month's selection trials. The results from the competition in May was also part of the selection process.

Jeev impresses with first round 68
ENGLAND, Jul 4 (UNI): Jeev Milkha Singh fired a fourunder 68 to be placed tied fifth after the first round of theEuropean Open at The London Golf Club here.
The Indian ace is five strokes behind the current leader, Ross Fisher of England.
Jeev seemed to be heading for a very low score when he sank birdies on the 12th, 15th and 16th on the opening day yesterday.
However, he dropped back due to bogeys on the 17th and first. He then knocked down three more birdies on the fifth, eighth and ninth to finish his round at four under.
Among the other Indians in the field, Jyoti Randhawa fired 74 to be tied 89th. His round of two over 74 included birdies on the ninth, 12th, 15th and bogeys on the first, seventh, 13th, 16th and 17th.
Shiv Kapur was tied 123rd with 76 in his first round. He had a disappointing round which included a birdie on the 12th, bogeys on the 14th, sixth, seventh and a double bogey on the fifth.
Kolkata pro SSP Chowrasia managed the tied 155th spot as he returned an 83. His round included nine bogeys and one double bogey.

Jayawadene confident of winning Asia Cup
KARACHI, Jul 4 (UNI): Despite losing to India in the final Super Four match here, Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene is confident of retaining the Asia Cup title in the summit clash on July 6.
According to Jayawardene, hosts Pakistan would have been a more dangerous opponent than the 'Men in Blue'.
"I think Pakistan can be a very dangerous side playing a big match in front of its home crowd. So in a way we have cut that element of crowd support out. It is good for India and Sri Lanka they don't have to worry about this factor," Jayawardene told mediapersons here.
According to the skipper, the Lankan players will have to fulfil their respective roles to perfection to emerge victorious in the final.
"What is important is how we executive our plans and strategies in the final which is the big match for us," Jayawardene said.
When asked about the reasons for the six-wicket defeat to India in yesterday's match, Jayawardene blamed the failure of the batsmen to put up a big enough total.
"We lost wickets when our batsmen were set. You need a big hundred from someone which we usually get to post a big total," he said. "We were 25 to 30 runs short in the end."

429 Sports stadia in all blocks, panchayats
SRINAGAR, Jul 4 (UNI): Every Panchayat and block headquarter of the state will have a stadium and necessary infrastructure for games said Sports Minister Haji Nisar Ali today.
He said in the first phase at least 414 panchayats and 15 blocks would be covered. The necessary finance for raising grounds would be released at the rate of Rs 1 lakh for each ground at panchayat headquarter and Rs 5 lakh for block headquarter, he added.
It is the governments endeavor to harness the sports potential of the youth who have been blessed with it in plenty of taken, he maintained and adding that governments decision will prove to be highly beneficial in this direction.
The Minister also highlighted various achievements made by the Department of Youth Affairs and Sports in various facets including successful organization of the Santosh Trophy.
He said that at least 1126 posts of physical education masters were created in the department and a further 400 lie in the waiting.
He said that for the first time in the history of the department that a battery of gazetted officers in the form of zonal physical education officers were upgraded.

Dhoni credits openers for victory
KARACHI, Jul 4 (UNI): Team India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhonihas credited his opening batsmen Virender Sehwag and GautamGambhir for the six-wicket win over Sri Lanka here.
"They have given us some great starts in the competition and it has made the job of chasing big totals easier for us," Dhoni told mediapersons at the post match press conference.
"Even though the wickets in this tournament have been very flat, and that is why we have seen totals of 300, still you need good starts to take the pressure off the middle order batsmen," he added.
Sehwag and Gambhir set a scintillating pace, putting on 92 runs for the opening wicket in just 11.4 overs to lay the foundation for
a comfortable win over Sri Lanka which propelled India into the final.
When asked for his take on the poor performance of the bowlers in the Asia Cup, Dhoni said,"Let us be clear that we have a bunch of very talented and exciting players. But the pitches have nothing in it for the bowlers even the spinners have got little turn so it has been hard on them and put more responsibility on the batsmen." India will now take on Sri Lanka in the final on Sunday.

Lahore High Court suspends Akhtar ban
LAHORE, Jul 4 (UNI): The Lahore High Court today stayed the18-month ban imposed by the PCB-appointed appellate tribunal on maverick fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar.
The seven million rupees fine on the pacer, however, will stay.
The 'Rawalpindi Express' was handed a five-year ban by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in April for several instances of indiscipline and violating the conditions of a two-year probation.
The tribunal later reduced the suspension to 18 months with a fine. The volatile speedster had filed a petition against the decision on Monday.

Dasmunsi calls upon corporate houses to emulate Coca Cola
KOLKATA, Jul 4 (UNI): All India Football Federation (AIFF) president Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi today warned the state soccer associations and football managers not to overstep their juridictions as trespassingwould not help improve the standard of soccer in the country.
Dasmunsi's warning came in the backdrop of the recent comment by senior India team coach Bob Houghton that the state football associations, including Indian Football Association (IFA), were squarely responsible for the poor standard of Indian soccer.
The AIFF president without naming anyone said all should work hard in unison for betterment of football.
Sixty-one-year-old Englishman Bobby Houghton took the charge as the chief national coach for senior India team in June 2006, and within two years India lost 0-1 to Maldives in the final at SAFF Cup in Male last month.
India's ranked 151 in the FIFA line up. Dasmunsi, however, said he would talk to the coach on his reported comment.
He also called upon the corporate houses for sponsorship of football tournaments, saying if 10 per cent was invested in soccer than that of cricket in India, soccer would have had a brighter future.
Earlier, Dasmunshi thanked Coca Cola for sponsoring 16 boys aged between 13 and 16 for weeklong soccer training in Rio de Janeiro.
" We need many more companies like Coca Cola India to come forward and participate towards making sports a way of life in India, " the AIFF chief said.
Six boys from Kolkata, three each from Gurgaon and Mumbai and one each from Chandigarh, Bangalore, Chennai and Goa, had been shortlisted for training at Brazilian Football Academy under the tutelege of world cup winning captain Carlos Alberto Parreira.
Former India internatinal Joe Paul Ancheri would also accompany the boys as coach.
The coahing will be held between July 7-12 in Rio de Janeiro in which 312 youths from 26 nations would take part.
Coca Cola, India, president and CEO Atul Singh said the company was committed to providing necessay assistance for betterment of soccer in the country.

Lahore High Court suspends Akhtar's 18-month ban
LAHORE, Jul 4 (UNI): The Lahore High Court today suspended an18-month ban on Pakistani speedster Shoaib Akhtar by thePCB-appointed appellate tribunal for indiscipline and themaverick fast bowler is eyeing this year's Champions Trophyto make a return to the international cricket.
The Lahore High court judge Sayed Zahid Hussain's written ruling made clear that a final decision will be made in September.
"I am persuaded and inclined to take the view that the petitioner is entitled to some interim relief," Hussain wrote.
"The ban on him from playing cricket will remain suspended until after the summer vacation 2008 when the petition will be fixed for hearing," he added.
Akhtar was banned for five years in April by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for several instances of indiscipline and violating the conditions of a two-year probation.
A PCB tribunal later reduced the suspension to 18 months with a fine of seven million rupees.
However, Akhtar petitioned the court to lift the suspension and made a separate application to stay the ban.
The court today announced its verdict that Akhtar was free to play for Pakistan until it reached a full decision on the writ petition and said the seven million rupees fine on the pacer will stay.
A much relieved Akhtar later expressed his desire to play for the country once again.
"I just want to play for my country and my fitness is okay," Akhtar said.
"I might travel to England to play a few county or league matches to gain match fitness," he added.
The PCB legal counsel Tafazzaul Rizvi, however, said everything was still not over and the decision was not final as the court had passed the order because it was closing for the summer vacations.
The 32-year-old Akhtar, who has taken 178 Test and 219 one-day wickets, has been a regular offender in the cricketing fraternity.
He was also banned for 13 matches and fined 3.4 million rupees last year during the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa for hitting teammate Mohammad Asif with a bat.

Italian players charged after match-fixing probe
ROME, Jul 4 (Reuters): Five players have been charged over alleged match-fixing in last season's home and away Serie A fixtures between Atalanta and relegated Livorno, Italy's football federation (FIGC) said today.
Atalanta's Gian Paolo Bellini and former Livorno captain David Balleri have been charged with seeking to fix the results of the games on Dec 23, which ended in a 1-1 draw, and May 4, which Atalanta won 3-2, the FIGC said.
Livorno brothers Emanuele and Antonio Filippini, along with team Alessandro Grandoni, have also been reported by the federation's prosecutor to the national disciplinary commission for a failure to inform the authorities about the events.
The two clubs were also reported to the commission over the behaviour of their players.

Injured Ponting to return home
MELBOURNE, Jul 4 (UNI): Captain Ricky Ponting will return homefrom Australia's tour of West Indies tonight following a tendoninjury in his right wrist.
Ponting, who missed today's one-day match against the West Indies at St Kitts, was unlikely to be available to play in Sunday's final match and therefore, the decision was made for him to return home as soon as possible.
Australia physiotherapist Justin Steer said Ponting would take the opportunity to return home.
"Ricky has a tendon injury in his right wrist and he will be flying home to see a specialist in Melbourne.
"Given his unavailability for the last match of the series we see this as a good opportunity to have him see the specialist at his earliest convenience," Steer added.
In Ponting's absence Michael Clarke will lead the team for the remainder of the tour while Mike Hussey will be his deputy.

Federer strolls past Safin into final
LONDON, Jul 4 (Reuters): Roger Federer sauntered into the men's singles final at Wimbledon today with a 6-3 7-6 6-4 defeat ofoutclassed Russian Marat Safin.
The Swiss world number one is now just one step away from a sixth consecutive Wimbledon title which would surpass the five in a row achieved by Bjorn Borg from 1976-80.
Federer came to Wimbledon with questions being asked about his dominance of the sport but after winning all 18 sets he has contested here this year he appears in a class of his own, especially on the All England Club lawns.
Should Rafael Nadal beat seasoned German Rainer Schuettler later today, Federer will face the Spaniard for the third consecutive year in the final hoping for revenge for his recent thrashing in the French Open final.
"People can say what they like," Federer said in reference to the doubters before the tournament.
"I was a bit surprised how intense it was. Don't write me off too quickly though because this is my part of the season now... Wimbledon, Olympics and the US Open.
"It's a beautiful feeling, I've got the opportunity to win the title again."
From the moment former world number one Safin, appearing in his first Wimbledon semi-final at the age of 28, surrendered his opening service game he lumbered around Centre Court with the world-weary expression of a beaten man.
With defeat looming at 4-5 in the third set Safin's patience snapped and he smashed his racket into a courtside chair, although it was one of the few moments of true aggression he managed during a disappointing, one-sided affair.
Those hoping for a repetition of Safin's amazing victory over Federer in the semi-final of the 2005 Australian Open were disappointed.
Once Federer achieved the early break he spent the rest of the match in cruise control.
Despite saving two break points at 1-2 and twice serving to stay in the second set, the majestic Swiss was totally unflustered.
Safin's only hope was to edge the second set tiebreak but instead of the fight he had displayed in his previous rounds he merely produced a string of careless errors.
Federer served an ace to clinch a two-set lead and cruised through the third set before moving through the gears to break Safin's final service game, clinching victory with a rolled backhand low over the net.

Lankan's 'opted' for a tougher finalist, says Ramiz
KARACHI, Jul 4 (UNI): Miffed by the home team's exit from thefinal of the Asia Cup, former Pakistan captain Ramiz Raza saidSri Lanka missed a plot by allowing India to face its depletedside in its six-wicket loss here and will now have to face atougher opponent in the summit clash on July 6.
India, yesterday, romped home to beat Sri Lanka by six wickets, as they convincingly overhauled the victory target of 309, thereby, securing a place in the final of the Asia Cup.
But Ramiz Raza, who is also a commentator for the tournament said, "I think Sri Lanka should have played with much more fire to stop India from reaching the final as the Indians are a talented bunch of boys."
He said Sri Lanka should have prefered Pakistan in the summit clash as they have already beaten them once in the tournament and, though, the hosts are a competetive side, they lack the consistency.
"Pakistan has played well but in patches. No doubt, they have the potential but the team still lacks that consistency," he said during his commentary yesterday.
Sri Lanka, who had already qualified for the final before the match against India, decided to rest two of its key players.
Lanka did manage to post a challenging total of 308, but it seemed a cake walk for the Indian batsmen who just toiled away the bowling.
Pace spearhead Chaminda Vaas and the highest wicket taker of the tournament 'tweaker' Ajantha Mendis were rested for the match which by all means was inconsequential for Sri Lanka.
The former Pakistan captain made it clear that the Lankans will have a tough time facing the Indians in the final which could have been averted had they showed a little more seriousness in their approach yesterday.

Ten players from AP selected for coaching camps
VIJAYAWADA, July 4 (UNI): The Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India(AKFI) President Janardan Singh Gehlot today selected ten players from Andhra Pradesh for Junior India coaching camps for boys and girls. The third women Asian Championship and the first Asian Beach games for men and women would be held at various centres in the country.
Talking to newspersons here this evening, Andhra Kabaddi Association(AKA)Joint Secretary K V Nanohariah said Srinivas and
S Srikrishna were selected for Junior India Girls coaching camp to be held at Gandhinagar in Gujarat from July eight to August seven.
Nagalakshmi was selected for third Asian Women Championship coaching camp to be held from July eight to August seven at SAAP Indoor Stadium, Hyderabad.
D Venkateswaramma and P Jyothi were selected for the first Asian Women Beach games coaching camp to be held from July eight to August seven at Lance Karyavattram, Thiruvananthapuram.
Mr Nancharaiah said Giribabu, Suresh and Umamaheswara Rao were selected for the first Asian Men Beach games coaching camp to be held at Kerala Sports Centre, Thiruvananthapuram.

Dipika steals show: upsets Christina to sail into semis
CHENNAI, July 4 (UNI): India's rising star , Tamil Nadu's Dipika Pallikal pulled off a major upset playing flawless game to dispose off top seeded Christina Mak of Hong Kong in straight games 9-7, 9-5, 9-3 to set up a semi final clash against third seed Orla Noom of the Netherlands in the ICL Chennai Open PSA and WISPA Squash championship here today.
Deepika, ranked 58 in WISPA rankings, proved that she is made of sterner stuff not allowing Mak to get back into to the contest.
In another quarter final match, the top Indian woman playerJoshna Chinappa, ranked 36, outplayed Birgit Coufal 9-2, 9-6, 9-2.
In other matches, Noom had to pull off her best from two games down to beat a fighting Anwesha Reddy of India for whom it was her first career quarter final outing in any major event,3-9, 8-10, 9-5, 9-1, 9-2, while Au had an easy time against Haritha Omprakash, who is playing in an WISPA event for the first time, 9-2, 9-0, 9-1.
In the men's section, second seeded Ritwik Bhattacharya with a PSA ranking of 58, shook off a poor start to beat Harinderpal Singh Sandhu who stole the limelight in the first rond accounting for a higher ranked Pakistani player. Ritwik won 11-8, 13-11, 11-8.
Top seed Saurav Ghosal (ranked 53) sailed to the semi finals without much difficulty beating Rob Sutherland of Wales 11-8, 15-3, 11-5.
Saurav will play Ryan Cuskelly of Australia, while Ritwick will take on Egypt's Mohd. Ali Anwara Reda in the semi finals tomorrow.
In the match between Deepika and the favourite Mak, the Indian rose to a 7-2 lead with superb execution of back hand drops and fore hand flicks. Then she never looked back to lead 1-0. The second game was evenly matched as Mak too decided to be rooted to back court, looking for Deepika to err.
However, Deepika benefitted from two 'strokes' awarded in her favour to win the second game too. Being under pressure, Mak, though bringing about her best in patches, committed unforced errors often and allowed Deepika to coast ahead 5-0. The Indian then benefitted further from on an error prone Mak's successive tin shots to win the game and the match.
Results-Men (Quarter finals):
Saurav Ghosal (Ind) bt Rob Sutherland (Wal) 11-8, 15-13, 11-5
Ryan Cuskelly (Aus) bt Dick Lau (Hkg) 11-9, 6-11, 11-9, 11-3
Mohd. Ali Anwar Reda (Egy) bt Max Lee (Hkg) 11-4, 11-3, 11-7 Ritwik Bhattacharya (Ind) bt Harinder Pal Singh (Ind) 11-8, 13-11, 11-8.
Women: Deepika Pallikal (Ind) bt Christina Mak (Hkg) 9-7, 9-5 9-3
Orla Noom (Ned) bt Anwesha Reddy (Ind) 3-9 8-10, 9-5, 9-1, 9-2
Annie Au (Hkg) bt Harita Ompakash (Ind) 9-2, 9-0, 9-1
Joshna Chinappa bt Birgit Coufal (Aut) 9-2, 9-6, 9-2
Semifinal line-up: Men: Saurav Ghosal vs Ryan Cuskelly, Mohd. Ali
Anwar Reda vs Ritwik Bhattacharya. Women: Dipika Pallikal vs Orla
Noom; Joshna Chinappa vs Annie Au.

Williams play seventh grand slam final
LONDON, Jul 4 (Reuters): An all Williams grand slam final looms at Wimbledon tomorrow for the first time since the 2005 US Open and with it the question of how motivated and keen one sister is to beat the other.
The final on Centre Court (1830 ist at the All England Club has the potential to be great with both Williams sisters, holder and four times champion Venus and twice winner Serena, in excellent form.
The sisters, with seventh seed Venus, at 28 older by 15 months than the sixth-seeded Serena, insist that throughout their parallel careers each has always done her utmost to outdo the other.
Serena said sibling rivalry motivated her to want everything her sister had achieved and more when she spoke after her semi-final victory over Zheng Jie of China yesterday.
Venus was more vehement when she said after beating Russian Elena Dementieva, that she found suggestions that there might be
a family agreement on the outcome of their matches offensive and an insult to her professionalism.
Dementieva was quoted as saying the outcome would be a family decision, no doubt meaning it would be settled within the family because a Williams would win come what may.
However, Dementieva said she would find it hard to play against a family member.
The sisters do not celebrate their victories over the other, particularly grand slam finals, with the euphoria players normally display at the moment of winning one of the biggest prizes in sport.
But if their rivalry is as strong as it has been over the 10 years since they first clashed at the 1998 Australian Open, a second round victory for Venus, the crowd can expect a highly competitive match.
Serena has won more grand slams, eight to Venus's six, but the older sister is going for her fifth Wimbledon title in her seventh final to Serena's third in four.
The younger sister won the finals between the two at Wimbledon with victories over Venus in 2002 and 2003, relinquishing her crown to Maria Sharapova in the 2004 final.
All told, Serena has the edge at 8-7 in all their meetings, having won five of their six grand slam finals and her greater power may be the decisive factor.
Both are serving well, particularly Serena, in games that do not differ greatly with both keen to come forward and volley whenever the opportunity presents itself.
They put their rivalry aside today, though, to win a women's doubles semi-final as they seek to add to the two Wimbledon titles they won together in 2000 and 2002.

Rashid wins Lalit Suri Northern India Golf Championship
NEW DELHI, Jul 4 (UNI): Saved by a 6-shot cushion, Rashid Khan emerged champion overcoming a fighting Chikkarangappa in the the Lalit Suri Northern India Junior Sub-Junior Golf Championship here today.
Rashid with a final round of 1-under 71 finished with a 4-day aggregate of 4-under 284 to complete back to back victories after his win at the DGC last week.
The Delhi lad, who began the day with a five-stroke advantage, faced a stiff challenge right from the word go when Chikkarangappa went on a birdie spree making three of them in the first four holes.
In the wake of an attacking mode adopted by the 15-year-old, Chikka also made a bogey in between (3rd and 8th).
Meanwhile, Rashid adopted a cautious approach at least on the front nine and grabbed the opportunity to save a stroke whenever he struck one.
The 17-year-old made birdies on the 2nd, fourth, 7th and 8th while making a solitary bogey on the sixth to take the turn at 3-under.
"I am thrilled to win back to back titles," said an excited Rashid. "Chikka played well but I was determined to win. Excepting the last two holes, everything about my game was working quite well," said the champion.
Bangalore lad Chikkarangappa who submitted the day's best card of 69 had to be content with the second place.
However, he has the solace of winning the Category 'B' title. Vicky Sharma finished third at 295 while Kanishk Madan was fourth at 297. Trishul Chinnappa (Cat B) was fifth overall at 302 while Ankur Chadda and Kapil Kumar shared the sixth position at 306.