Dipika Pallikal: What a comeback!

After winning five Grand Slam titles in the company of John McEnroe when his partner Fleming was asked who in his view formed the best doubles team in the world, his answer was simple, “McEnroe and partner”. Such was McEnroe’s dominance on the tennis court whether it was in the game of singles or doubles.

Nearer home, at least for the time being, we can ask a similar question as to who is the best doubles squash player in the world and the answer would be Dipika Pallikal Karthik. What is more remarkable about Dipika’s recent achievements is that she has come back after attaining motherhood to bag both the doubles and the mixed doubles world titles and all within six months of her delivering her twin sons. For the numerology-inclined, two may be Dipika’s lucky number. She is in the second phase of her sporting career; she is married to Dinesh Karthik who has married for the second time, she is now the mother of two sons, she participated in two events with two partners and won two gold medals for the country. In continuance of the same, it would not be out of place to mention that I am writing about Dipika for this magazine for the second time!

Subscribe to The Teenager Today print / digital editions to read the full article.