"I don't think it has sunk in": Dipika Pallikal on winning gold in squash mixed doubles
Oct 05, 2023
Hangzhou [China], October 5 : India's star squash player Dipika Pallikal admitted her gold medal victory in the Squash Mixed Doubles at the 19th Asian Games hasn't quite sunk in yet.
The Indian mixed doubles pair of Pallikal and Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu bagged a gold medal in Hangzhou.
"I don't think it has sunk in for both of us...Very humbled. Very proud of the fact that all the work that we've done has gotten us this far. We are very happy..." Pallikal told ANI,
Dipika-Harinder defeated Malaysian pair Aifa Binti Azman/Mohammad Syafiq Bin Mohd Kamal in a close encounter. They won the match in 35 minutes in straight games 11-10, 11-10.
"This one is very special. We had worked tremendously hard to form this partnership. Since we both go back way back in our playing careers, the understanding of what we had comes very naturally... We are very honoured to get the amount of support from our Indian government, from our sports ministry, and from SAI..." Harinder Pal Sandhu told ANI.
Malaysia had the upper hand in the first game, however, India made a comeback and won by just one point 11-10. Before winning the opening game, the Indian squash team upped the ante and conserved two game points. In the second game, Pallikal and Harinder maintained the pace and made excellent use of the side wall.
Aifa Azman and Mohd Syafiq Kamal scored the next seven points to turn the tables on the Indian squash players, who had a 9-3 lead and appeared to be coasting to the gold.
Once more, Dipika and Harinder were successful in keeping a game point. When it counted, Harinder Pal Sandhu came through with a backhand smash to tie the game. He then used another powerful backhand to separate the two Malaysian players, winning the match and the gold medal with it.
