Dipika Rebecca Pallikal, (English: Dipika Rebecca Pallikal, born- 21 September 1991) is an Indian female squash player. She married Indian cricket team wicket keeper and batsman Dinesh Karthik on 20 August 2015. Dipika Pallikal is considered the number one female squash player in the under-19 category and is ranked 10th in the world rankings, which is her best ranking till date. She is the first Indian woman to reach the top 10 of the WSA rankings. Dipika Pallikal won her sixth WSA title by winning the Meadowood Pharmacy Open in February 2013. In the year 2013, she won the Macau Open title in Macau by defeating world number one player Rachel Grinham of Australia. In the Commonwealth Games, 2022, the pair of Dipika Pallikal and Saurav Ghoshal won the bronze medal for the country in mixed doubles.
Deepika Pallikal was born on September 21, 1991 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Her full name is ‘Deepika Rebecca Pallikal’. Her father’s name is Sanjeev Pallikal, who is an industrialist. Her mother’s name is Suzanne Pallikal, who has been a cricketer and currently runs a travel agency. Her sisters’ names are Divya Pallikal and Diya Pallikal. Deepika Pallikal is married to Indian cricket team’s wicket keeper and batsman Dinesh Karthik. They have two twin children Kabir and Jian.
Deepika Pallikal studied till 9th standard at Good Shepherd School. After this, she went to Lady Andale School for studies because there were facilities for sports as well. After that, she obtained a bachelor’s degree in English from Ethiraj College, Chennai.[1]
Deepika Pallikal was very interested in sports since childhood. She played her first international match in London in the 6th grade and at the age of 11 she became the national champion. Her passion for this game made her win many matches. She has also won many international titles. She reached the final of Chennai Open in 2018 by being seeded first and third. She won the Indian Challenger No. 2010 trophy at number 5 by defeating two seeds.
After this, she doubled her tally by winning the Nepal Open. In the year 2011, Deepika Pallikal also achieved a creditable quarter-final place in the World Championship. In December 2012, she entered the top 10 players for the first time and became the first Indian squash player and in the same year was awarded India’s second biggest sports award ‘Arjuna Award’. She became the first female squash player to receive this honor. After that, by winning the Macau Open in 2013, she won the sixth title of her career by defeating Hong Kong’s Joy Chan in straight sets in the final of the Meadowood Pharmacy Open in Winnipeg, Canada.
