Biography
Dipika
Pallikal played her first WSA event at the age of 15, when she entered the
Qatar Airways Challenge, and since then has proved an exciting prospect for the
women’s game. In the early months of her
WSA career, she featured as a qualifier in the first rounds of the Hurghada
International and Los Angeles Open before winning the British Junior U17 Open
in 2008.
This was
the start of a successful year for the Indian player, who reached the semis and
quarters of the Vietnam Open and NSC Series No1 consecutively. Later that year, buoyed by home support she
beat the No’s1 and 3 seeds to reach the final of the Chennai Open. In 2009 she continued to see junior level
success whilst hovering in around the top50 level of the WSA rankings. Her first WSA World Tour title came in 2010
at the Indian Challenger No5 as she beat the top two Sharon Wee and Emma
Beddoes. After claiming the Asian Junior
U19 Championship title, she then doubled her WSA title tally as she played true
to her seeding to win the Nepal Open.
After
slowly chipping away at the rankings throughout 2010, Pallikal started 2011
inside the top30 and appearances in the Greenwich and Malaysian Open’s did much
to steady her place among the world’s best.
She won the Orange County Open and the Dread Sports Series either side
of first round appearances in larger WSA events, and earned herself a credible
quarter-final place in the World Open in Rotterdam. She capped off her most successful year on
the tour by winning the Indian National Championships, followed by the
Crocodile Challenge Cup in Hong Kong.
So far in
2012, Pallikal has earned herself further notoriety in not just the squash
world, following a surprise semi-final appearance in the Greenwich Open where,
as a qualifier, she beat Line Hansen and Jaclyn Hawkes. She also finished runner-up of the Tournament
of Champions in New York City as No7 seed, and most recently reached the CIMB
KL Nicol David Open quarter-finals as a qualifier, as well as the Australian
Open semi-finals. Her September ranking
would have risen further were it not her unfortunate first round exit in the
Matamata Open at the hand of the unseeded eventual champion Alison Waters. In
December, Pallikal became the highest ranked Indian in squash history by
reaching No.10 in the world.
In 2013
Pallikal claimed the Meadowood Pharmacy Open title in Canada in February for
her sixth WSA title. She followed this up with second round finishes at the
CIMB KL Open and Allam British Open, pushing both Jenny Duncalf and Laura
Massaro to four games.