A golden example

Indian squash star hopes victory inspires more women back home to compete

Female squash player Dipika Pallikal Karthik, who partnered with Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu to claim India's first-ever gold medal in squash mixed doubles on Thursday — defeating traditional powerhouse Malaysia — said she hopes their victory will motivate more young women in her homeland to play the sport.

Mixed doubles was introduced to the Asian Games in Hangzhou following the introduction of the men's and women's individual events in 1998, and the men's and women's team events in 2010.

Since then, Malaysia has won more than a third of the available medals — 26 out of 72. And it has won 11 of the 18 gold medals awarded in the sport at the Asian Games.

"It's unbelievable," said Karthik, the world champion in mixed doubles and women's doubles, and the first Indian woman to rank in the world's top 10.

"For me and Hari (her partner, Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu) to have come back and done this — if you asked us a few years back if we would be part of this team or where we are standing and winning gold, I don't think we would have believed it. We really put in the effort and the hard work back home, and I'm very glad it worked out."

The 32-year-old said she believed women athletes are garnering more attention in India, partly because of their performances.

"I think just a little bit of encouragement for women will go a long way," Karthik said.

"Hopefully, we can get more opportunities; we can get a bit more of the limelight for women in sports and women in the workplace."

Karthik began playing squash at age 10 and competed in her first professional tournament at age 15.

She became the first Indian female squash player to win an individual medal at the Asian Games when she took singles bronze at the 2014 Games in Incheon, Republic of Korea.

But she took a break from the sport between 2018 and 2022 to start a family. After giving birth to twin sons in 2021, she returned to training later that year and returned to competition at the 2022 World Doubles Championships in Glasgow, Scotland.

She and Saurav Ghosal then became the first Indian squash players to win a gold medal at the world doubles championships, following their victory in the mixed event at the 2022 edition in Glasgow. Later on the same day, she won the women's doubles title alongside Joshana Chinappa to become the first Indian player to win multiple titles at the tournament.

"It's imperative to be part of a loyal team, with loyal sponsors, a loyal coach and, over and above all, family members who are OK with you taking a break. This is especially important for women," Karthik said.

"Being an athlete is tough, but being an Indian woman athlete is tougher, especially when you compete for the country. But it's heartening to see so many women taking up sports because of strong role models like (Indian boxer) Mary Kom, (Indian badminton player) PV Sindhu and others."