In the 2022 Commonwealth Games, Dipika Pallikal and Saurav Ghosal, two of India’s top squash players, won bronze.
To place third in Birmingham, Pallikal and Ghosal overcame defending champions Lobban Donna and Pilley Cameron in two games (11-8, 11-4). This is the pair’s second medal in a row at the Commonwealth Game. In 2018, they lost to the same opponents and were awarded a silver medal.
The Indian mixed doubles team had lost 0-2 to Joelle King and Paul Coll of New Zealand in the squash competition’s semi-finals on Saturday. They put on an outstanding display to defeat Donna and Cameron of Australia and win the bronze.
Dipika Pallikal and Saurav Ghosal journey through CWG 22
Sourav Ghosal has already earned two medals at the current Games; his first was a bronze in the men’s singles category. Meanwhile, Dipika won a fourth CWG medal. She previously won a gold medal in the women’s doubles competition in 2014 and two medals in doubles and mixed doubles in 2018.
Pallikal and Ghosal put up a strong showing throughout the CWG 2022. Winning all of their matches in a row before falling to King and Coll of New Zealand in the semifinals.
The Indians defeated the Welsh combination of Emily Whitlock and Peter Creed in a quick match. Winning 2-0 to advance to the quarterfinals. They then defeated the Australian duo of Rachael Grinham and Zac Alexander 11-9 11-5 to secure a spot in the last four.
The medal signified the conclusion of the squash campaign for the Indian contingent (two bronze).
Also read: Commonwealth Games 2022: Women Quartet wins India’s First Lawn Balls Gold
Dipika Pallikal plays her first Commonwealth games after birth of twins
Since the birth of her twins, Dipika is competing in her first Commonwealth Games. In Glasgow, Scotland, for the 2014 Commonwealth Games, Dipika Pallikal Karthik took home a gold medal. At the 2018 Commonwealth Games, she also won two silver medals—one in the mixed doubles competition and the other in the doubles competition.
In 2014, Dipika Pallikal Karthik received the Padma Shri award. In 2012, she was the first squash player to get the Arjuna Award. At the Asian Games, Dipika Pallikal Karthik took home four medals: one silver, three bronze. She reached a high of No. 10 in the world. Indian cricketer Dinesh Karthik is married to squash player Dipika Pallikal, who is the mother of twin sons.
Dipika and Saurav comment after their bronze win
“To win the gold medal would have been huge for India. So for us to come back today and produce the performance and play the way we did, is brilliant,” Ghosal said after the win.
“It’s something that I will always cherish and feel very proud of. It will go down as personally my best Commonwealth Games ever. It’s something I can always look back o with fondness.”
Dipika Pallikal added, “It’s always hard to back up after a very tough loss and it was very important to be mentally strong today. We had to try and put that behind us, we played really well and stuck to our game plan.”
She then went on to say, “I’m just happy that the hard work I’ve put in on and off the court has helped to win us a medal.”
Also read: Boxer Nikhat Zareen wins gold at the Commonwealth Games 2022
