On a day when three of the top eight seeds bit the dust, Pallikal packed off Lana Harrison of New Zealand 11-1, 11-7, 11-7 in 19 minutes in the morning session and then assured of a place in the quarterfinal with a 11-5, 11-7, 11-5 win in 22 minutes over unseeded Yathreb Adel of Egypt.
Adel upset 18th seed Milou Van der Heijden of the Netherlands 11-4 ,11-9, 14-12 in second round. Six Egyptians have booked their berths in the quarterfinals, while Pallikal and Pakistani Maria Toor Pakay completed the line up.
In the quarterfinals to be played on Friday, Pallikal will take on fifth seed Nouran El Torky of Egypt and fourth seed Nour El Tayeb, also of Egypt, plays compatriot Salma Hany.
Among other Indians in action, Surbhi Misra lost focus at crucial moments to go down to Pakistan’s eight seed Maria Toor Pakay 7-11, 6-11, 8-11 in 24 minutes in her third round match. Pakay’s late charge helped her book a quarterfinal berth with a 12-10, 11-2, 11-8 win over American Elizabeth Eyre.
Anwesha Reddy, who beat 13th seed Carrie Ramsey of England 11-6, 11-8, 8-11, 11-4 in 42 minutes in the morning, went down to second seed Heba El Torky of Egypt 2-11, 5-11, 6-11.
Other seeds in the women’s section to fall on Thursday were Malaysian sixth seed Low Wee Nee and American seventh seed Olivia Blatchford, who succumbed to talented Egyptian stars Nour El Sherbini and Salma Hany respectively.
