Dipika Pallikal, also known as Dipika Rebecca Pallikal is an Indian squash player. She won 3 Women in Sport and Physical Activity (WISPA) tour titles in 2011 that saw her attain a career best ranking of 13. She is the first Indian to break into the top 10 in the Official Women`s Squash World Ranking. She became the first Female Squash player to be conferred with the Arjuna Award in the year 2012.
Early Life of Dipika Pallikal
Dipika Pallikal was born on 21st September 1991 in Chennai to a Malayali family. She is the daughter of Sanjiv George and Susan Pallikal. Her mother played international cricket for the Indian women`s team. She studied at Ethiraj College with major in English.
Career of Dipika Pallikal
Dipika secured her first of three WISPA titles for 2011 in September where she won the Orange County Open in Irvine, California. She notched up her second in the United States with another WISPA tour event victory and the third came in Hong Kong in the Crocodile Challenge Cup in December 2011. She achieved a ranking of 14 as a result of these victories in February 2012, breaking the earlier best world ranking in squash by an Indian.
She became the first Indian ever to reach the summit clash of a Silver event in January 2012, where she reached the final of the Tournament of Champions squash meet in New York. In same year, she went one step further when she reached the semi-finals of a gold event, the 2012 Australian Open, another first for an Indian. In February 2013, she won her sixth WSA title of her career after outplaying Joey Chan of Hong Kong 11-9, 11-7, 11-4 in the final of the Meadowood Pharmacy Open in the Canadian city of Winnipeg.
In December 2012, Dipika broke into the top 10 by achieving a career best of ranking of 10. At the 2014 Commonwealth Games, she along with Joshna Chinappa won the squash women`s doubles gold medal, making it India`s first ever Commonwealth Games medal in the sport. Pallikal picked up her 10th Tour title in January 2015 after triumphing at the Winter Club Open. At the February 2016 South Asian Games, she was part of the gold medal winning Indian Women`s team. In May she was part of the silver medal winning Indian Women`s team at the Asian Team Championship in Taipei. Dipika trains at the ICL-TNSRA Academy at Chennai under Cyrus Poncha and Major S. Maniam. Following her second Indian national Title she continued her good form winning the Australian Open, her 11th PSA title in August 2016. She won silver in mixed doubles in 2018 Commonwealth Games.
Achievements of Dipika Pallikal
Following are the achievements of Dipika Pallikal:
| Event | Year | Position |
| Tournament of Champions | 2012 | Runner-up |
| Orange County Open | 2011 | Winner |
| Dread Sports Series | 2011 | Winner |
| World Open | 2011 | Quarter-final |
| Crocodile Challenge Cup | 2011 | Winner |
| Macau Squash Open | 2013 | Winner |
| Winnipeg Winter Club Open | 2015 | Winner |
| Meadowood Pharmacy Open | 2013 | Winner |
| Australian Open | 2012 | Semi-finals |