Dipika Pallikal

DIPIKA PALLIKAL DESPERATE TO BE SQUASH'S PINUP GIRL?
Article in Savvy Magazine, May 2008

SQUASH PRINCESS

“FROM the time I have known Dipeka Pallikal, first as a bubbly little girl and now as a highly focused teenager, I’ve seen in her the makings of a truly professional sportswoman. She has the ability, poise, confidence and glamour to excel on the international stage and convert her prowess at squash into a major sports marketing asset. I have no doubt that she will make it, and I wish her well.”

-Raj Rajamahendran, Chairman/MD, The Capital Maharaja Organisation Ltd, Sri Lanka, is a one of Dipika’s sponsors

“I HAVE known Dipika for the last couple of years now and in my opinion, she is not only an extremely talented squash player but also a great kid! She Handles herself very well on and off the squash court, and that is evident as she has more friends on Facebook than any other person I know. We as a trust have big dreams for Dipika and feel that she is on the right track to achieve more laurels.She has immense talent and is now focusing on establishing herself on the WISPA (Women’s International Squash Professionals Association) circuit. She started the year by creating history, and we feel this is just a stepping stone towards even greater achievements in the future”-Manisha Malhotra is CEO, Mittal Champions Trust

“I HAVE known Dipika for over three years now. It is impressive to see how she has taken her game to the next level consistently and constantly. Winning at the highest level, and yet not getting complacent – that’s Dipika! A fighter through and through, she has everything it takes to be a champio.” – Mahesh Bhupathi (Globosports) manages Dipika’s career.

I BELIEVE

They call me the glam doll of squash in India. I’ll say, I’m 16, fun loving, and yes, it feels great to be World No 1 (in ‘Under 17’) in squash. The biggest names in the game have predicted HUGE success for me. Givena good day, I can beat the best of best. Unfortunately, plotics, an intergral part of Indian Sports, has affected my career. But I have confidence in myself and have proved myself time and again…

I was born in Chennai, we are Malayali Christians. My dad Sanjeev Pallikal runs his own business ‘Reach Management Consultancy’, which has 10 branches across the world and my mum Susan Pallikal, was a cricketer in her her days. She now runs a travel agency called ‘Travel Masters India.’

We are three siblings; and II am the youngest. My eledest sistteeer Divya works for the company KPMG and is also studying for her CA. My second sister Dia is doing her masters in graphic designing in Leeds, UK. And my mom always teases us by referring to the three of us as ‘D d d’, which according to her stands for donkeys. But on a serious note, all our names- Divya, Diya and Deipika – mean ‘light’.

I basically come from a sports background. My grandma was a state level athlete. She represented Kerala in javelin and was also a state level sprinter. My grandpa was a very talented state level basketball player. He represented three states in basketball – Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Now you know where my talent comes from. Well, this is not all. My paternal grandfather, who was a colonel in the army, was a great athlete excelling in long jump and triple jump.

And my mom, popularly known as Susan Lttycheria during her cricketing days, played for India. She was one of the best all rounfers the country had. She excelled in bowling, middle order batting and fielding. She was called the ‘Rock of Gibraltar’ by her colleagues Behroze and Diana Edulji. She was also chosen as the captain of the Indian team for the World Cup played in India. Though a male dominated sport, she and her teammates Shantha Rangaswamy, Shubhangi Kulkarni, Sudha Shah, Fowsieh Khaleeli and Diana and Behroze Edulji enjoyed the game, and they played as well as the guys their age. The sport was tough, but they were tougher.

At the age of 19, mom along with 12 other cricketers, formed what was called ‘India Club’, which was like a players association. They would approach sponsors for money, travel to places like Amsterdam, West Indies and the UK, organize matches in each of these places on their own and play. They would tour and play friendly matches in all these places. Mom, without a doubt, is a major source of inspiration to me.

My school in Chennai Later, I shifted to the Good Shepherd School, and studied there till the ninth standard . I then moved to lady Andal School because they had a proper sports curriculum there. School days were a lot of fun, especially at the Good Shephered School. I had a bunch of friends who were absolute nerds and since I was not too keen on studies, I would feel quite out of place in this group. Nevertheless, we had great times together.

I discovered squash at the age of 10. Before that, I played tennis a lot. But one day, Praneeta, my neighbor, asked me if I would be interested in going for a summer camp where they were having squash classes. That’s how I started playing squash. Praneeta and I were really close till I was 12 and then Praneeta left for Singapore. It was very hard on me, especially since we used to spend a lot of time together-cycling and playing. Even today, Praneeta is my closest friend and her name comes first in my Facebook group.

Once I got the taste of squash, there was no looking back! I loved playing the game. I had so much to look forward to-smart new clothes, good shoes, my hair tied differently (I had long hair as I was learning classical dance too then, which I later gave up), and most of all beating the boys in the 9-point practice game. So I never missed even a single practice session.

And I think the glamour of it all and the handsome boys just motivated me to play on! Initially, I never used to like boys but when I started playing squash and got my first cell phone, I started hanging out with boys too. Now if you ask me about boyfriends/crushes, well, let me tell you that there’s nothing very serious, I’m just living a normal teenager’s life!

Back to my squash, I first started training with coach Hari Om Tripati. He is the one who taught me how to hold a racket right. The first tournament I participated in was the Indian Junior Nationals in 2002, which is the biggest tournament in India, and I won that! I became the national champion at the age of 11, and from then on, I knew squash was my game. I was not even seeded. I was a new face on the circuit. But if you win the Nationals, you automatically become No1 in the country. That was a proud moment for me.

Squash champ Joshna Chinnapa was a very good friend of my sister’s. Through my sister, Joshna and I became good friends. I then became a member of the India Cements Squash Academy (run by the Squash Rackets Federation of India) to train professionally. It was tough training at the Academy. A great deal had to be sacrificed –no sweets, no chocolates, no getting up late, but let me tell you a little secret, I had my way most of the time. Being the youngest in the family, my parents did pampered me a lot-I don’t remember what I haven’t got in life.

Anyway, I went on to win a lot of national and international titles after that. Over the last five years, I’ve won the German Junior Squash Open followed by the Belgium, Scottish, Australian Open, Dutch Junior Open, Asia Junior Individual Chaimpionship Singapur, Pioneer Open at Cologne, Noric Junior Open at Sweden among many other national titles between 2003 and 2007. Squash became, and is, the center point of my existence.

But I did go through my share of trials and travails in my sporting career. At the India Cements Squash Academy, I became very close to the people in the academy like Cyrus Poncha, the national coach, and Major Mannaiam, the Asian Federation’s Technical Director. But suddenly, I got news that I was not picked for the team for the Asian Games in Doha. Earlier they had sent me a letter stating that if reached the top two in the country, Ti would bes

Automatically picked, two weeks before getting the letter, I had played against Joshna Chinappa and was declared the runners up. But supposedly, being a government organization, they had picked the team one month before an I wasn’t elected!

If you want to play squash in India, you have to be with the Academy, but since they treated me badly, I didn’t want to be with them. But I didn’t really have a choice as I was under a contract till January last year. So I went off to Egypt without telling the Academy. Egypt in known for the best squash players in the world. My mother approached coach Amir Wagi who is an Egyptian and who was the coach of the Kuwaiti national team. I met him at an Asian event. The first time he saw me, he said, ‘this girl has talent and if she trains well, she will do well’.

At that time, I was also pretty frazzled with the national tournament. It was really weird because the first year I won, and the next few years, I lost. It was so jinxed, every time I was 2-0 up, I knew I would screw up. I knew something would go wrong. The refereeing was rigged – I used to play with this other Chennai girl (I am not naming her), and the Academy was always on her side. That’s how the sports arena is, full of politics.

Once I shifted to Egypt, I gained more confidence because I knew I was so much better than that Chennai girl. In the beginning, I was nervous that they would rig the match. But myt coach would tell me to stop worrying about these things and concentrate on the game. And, that is what I believe in now! Know I have so much talent and I should not be worried about other things.

Even though I was in Fgypt, my studies were not really affected. At lady Andal, all the notes were available on the internat, which made it very easy for me and the principal was also very supportive. I don’t go to school half the time but I come back for the exams

I have been training in Egypt for the past two years. Before the British Open (Janusry 2008), I trained really hard for about one month and injured my back too. I had never trained so hard for a tournament before and the British Open is as big as Wimbledon. The injury happened when I was playing with a boy and he, by mistake, whacked me on my back with his racket. After that I couldn’t walk for two days. My mom said, ‘The British open is a big thing for you but you have many years ahead of you and you don’t have to push yourself’.

Despite my injury, I played the British Open because I had sent my entry, and it was my last year to play for ‘Under 17’. My first really tough match was the quarterfinals where I played Laura Gemella from Canada who was No. 1 there. I qualified for the finals for the first time in five years. Squash players Saurav Ghosal, who was there too, gave me tips which helped a lot. The girl played in the finals, Heba from Egypt, was the one who had won the British Open successively for five years.

On the day of the finals, my mom told me, just go and play your best. I went on the court, won the first game, lost the second, won the third and lost the fourth. It was a close match but I made it up by winning the next few points. And finally. I won the game! I was so delighted that I threw my racket in the air with joy. The British open is one of the biggest tournament and only Saurav and Joshna had won it before. And I had actually won it! I was overjoyed! I could see Saurav and my sister jumping in the audience. I had never thrown my racket like that, not my style. Even if it falls down ny mistake, I take it and kis it, but this was a different high altogether!

Usually, people party after winning the British Open but I slept unusually early that night. The next morning, congratulatory calls poured in from all over. But I didn’t hear from the federation, which really hurt. The Federation also dropped me from the Asian Seniors this years, which was in February in Kuwait. I was doing my physiotherapy during the trails. So I sent them a letter saying. ‘I won’t be able to come for the trails because of this but if you want me to come, I will’ when the selected list was out, my name was not in it, and that’s how I found out that I was not in the team even after winning the British Open!

My father said he would file a case. I told him there was no use filing a case. Joshna had filed eight cases against the Federatiom, and it did not get her anywhere. But still my dad went ahead and filed case. He is not fighting just for me but a lot of other people who suffer because of the Federation. His two contentions are: there should be proper selections and there should be a proper ranking system in India.

I have currently shifted base to Kuwait and signed a contract with the Qadsia Club, which is the best club in Kuwait. I also got and offer to sign a contract with the Qatar Squash Federation saying that they will give mea passport and a million dollars to play for their country. But since I’m and Indian first and I only want to represent my country, I declined the offer.

I am happy the Federation has chosen me for an Asian event this year. I’m also preparing for the British Open Seniors, and the WISPS (Women’s International Squash Professional Association) tournaments in Malaysia and Vietnam.

But after winning the British Open, everything has changed. The Mittal Champions Trust now funds my training and travels, and Mahesh Bhupathi’s Globosport manages my career. It feels great to be World No.1 in the ‘Under 17’ age group.

But it’s tough too. I stay out of the country for almost eight months in a year. I miss my family, but most of the times, my mother travels with me. And when I’m goint to a country where I can shop a lot, I coax my father into coming along so I can bully him more than my mom.

As for life beyond squash, I finished my boards this October and am in the 11^th now, so I am taking it a bit easy now. Otherwise, I am lime any other normal teenager. I love dressing, and make it a point to look my best always. My nails are a very important part of me, I love dressing them up. Shopping for the latest trends in clothes – ‘Mango’, ‘Guess’, ‘Forever 21’ – when I travel is an obsession. My weakness though is spending too much. Well I am not into partying for the moment, but I will, my squash permitting, be a party animal soon.

I have also been approached by the Tamil film industry and even sat through a story session with actor Madhavan over coffee. But my father did not agree because he feels I have a bigger responsibility of winning more titles and laurels for the country. Which is fine by me – squash is my priority love and life!

My main ambition in life is to have successful squash career and a relaxed modeling career, and excel in both! Yes, I have a thing for modeling. Both may seem tough but I have the faith and ‘Faith and Impossible’ don’t go together. I have a tough mind and a strong will. I believe in never giving up. It’s a tough world out there, but you can overcome it…

Life is short, Play it till you win !