Pallikal moves up to 14 in World squash rankings

Riding on her yet another appearance in the finals of a WISPA tournament, India's young woman squash sensation Dipika Pallikal has moved up to a career-high 14th place in the world rankings.

Pallikal, whose three WISPA titles last year saw her rise to the 15th spot in the world rankings, however, could not cling to her overall sixth title last month as she lost to Natalie Grinham of the Netherlands in the Tournament of Champions in New York.

Her appearance in the finals, though, helped her to jump a place higher in the latest rankings.

The 20-year-old, who is currently spearheading the Indian challenge at the inaugural Chennai Open World Cup under-21, had a great 2011, winning three WISPA titles.

Last year, she clinched her first WISPA title in September by winning the Orange County Open in Irvine, California and notched up her second in the United States with another tournament victory.

Her over all fifth and year's third title came in December in the Crocodile Challenge Cup in Hong Kong.

The Chennai girl also became the first Indian to reach the quarter-finals of the World Squash Open while she also made it to the semifinals of Buler Challenge Cup in Hong Kong and in World Tour Des Pyramides Open in France.

She climbed to her career-best ranking of 24th in February last year, surpassing the earlier best world ranking by an Indian -- 27th by former national champion Misha Grewal in 1995.

The recently-released rankings published by the Women's International Squash Players' Association, however, saw Joshna Chinappa slip four places to be at 40th position.