World Doubles Squash Championships: Dipika Pallikal helps India to maiden titles
Dipika Pallikal won the women’s and mixed doubles titles with Joshna Chinappa and Saurav Ghosal, respectively. These were India’s first-ever titles at the worlds.
India’s Dipika Pallikal and Saurav Ghosal won the mixed doubles title at the World Doubles Squash Championships 2022 in Glasgow, Scotland on Friday. Hours later, Dipika and Joshna Chinappa combined to clinch the women’s doubles crown.
Previously, Indian squash players had only made two final appearances at the worlds. Dipika and Saurav lost in the mixed doubles final in 2016 while Saurav and Ritwik Bhattacharya finished as men’s doubles runners up in 2004.
Dipika Pallikal and Saurav Ghosal, seeded second, beat the fourth-seeded English pair Adrian Waller and Alison Waters 11-6, 11-8 in the final at the Scotstoun Leisure Centre to pocket the mixed doubles title and became India’s first-ever World Doubles squash champions.
Hours later, Dipika doubled India’s and her own world championships medal count, bagging the women’s doubles title with Joshna Chinappa.
Former Commonwealth Games champions Dipika and Chinappa, who were seeded third, upset England’s Sarah-Jane Perry and Alison Waters, the second seeds, 11-9, 4-11, 11-8 in a hard-fought final.
The Glasgow meet was a landmark tournament for Dipika Pallikal, who was making her comeback to international squash after three years away from the sport. Dipika, who is married to Indian cricketer Dinesh Karthik, became a mother last year.
Meanwhile, Vikram Malhotra and Joshna Chinappa finished tenth in mixed doubles after losing 11-4, 11-6 to Malaysian pair Mohammad Syafiq Kamal and Aifa Azman in their ninth-tenth place playoffs.
Ramit Tandon and Vikram Malhotra, India’s only entry in men’s doubles, won their 17th place playoff against Wales’ Elliott Morris and Owain Taylor 11-7, 11-10 on Saturday.