Squash medals at Asiad, CWG fantastic achievement: Dipika Pallikal

Winning a medal in Olympics is an ultimate aim, but unfortunately squash is not there, so winning medal in Asian Games and CWG is the biggest stage we can get. So going out there and winning the medal is a fantastic achievement.

You lost the silver to Nicole David, does that hurt?

As an athlete, you never want to settle for anything else than a gold, but Nicole David is the world number-one for 8 years, it’s something which we all aspire to be. But I am only 23. I am right now in top-5 and I will keep pushing.

You said the draw between you and Joshna Chinappa was manipulated? What do you mean by that?

The rule is two people from the same country can’t be in the same half (pool) but it’s happening for last three Asian Games, so I just said that people must follow the rule.

Was there any disgust taking on Joshna in the bronze medal match?

We could have come out winning another medal, but at the same time we wanted to win that game. It would have been our first individual event on a big stage. We both played really well but it was just my day to win the Asian Games medal.

So did you take up the matter with the SRFI (Squash Racket Federation of India)?

I have appealed to them, hopefully they will take care of it.

So is there any response from them?

I don’t know what the process is as I have been travelling since then. But as of now I don’t know what’s going on.

Are you thinking to speak to the World Squash Federation?

No, I have to  get a reply from the Indian Squash Federation first before I take it up on the world stage.

Are you happy with the way the administrators are running the sport in the country?

Everyone knows that things are not great in Indian sport in general. However, cricket is another sport all together, but we all know how Indian sport is ruled. All we want is a little bit of change and acknowledgement, a little bit of respect for the Indian players.

So what’s up next for you?

Asian Games and CWG were the biggest event for us, but now we will go back to our individual events. I am going back to WSA circuits. I am going to play in Mumbai and after that in Shanghai.

How do you see the future of sport in the country?

I hope that these medals really inspire the country to take up the sport and hope that corporate come in as we have done so well in squash for the past 5 years. So, the funding from corporate and the govt must keep coming, it’s the only way the sport’s going to move forward.

Is Chennai the squash capital of the country?

Chennai has a lot of academy and there is a systematic training going on there.

Do you see yourself opening an squash academy?

It’s too early. I do want to give back to the sport by some way or other. But how? I haven’t decided anything about that.

Do you think the squash must be included in Olympics?

A sport like squash deserve to be in the Olympics. We have all the attributes to be there and it really hurts. We still have to keep on working to make it reach there.