Dipika-Harinder pair wins Asian mixed doubles squash championships

Golden journey: Harinder (l) and Dipika are elated after bringing home the mixed doubles gold medal.
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

It was a red-letter day for India at the first Asian mixed doubles squash championships at Huangzhou (China) on Friday as the duo of Dipika Pallikal-Karthik and Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu defeated the Malaysian pair of Rachel Arnold and Ivan Yuen 11-10, 11-8 in the final.

Dipika said the victory is a good preparation for the Asian Games.

“It went according to plan. We had trained hard keeping a few specifics in mind, happy the hard yards we put in worked well. It’s always nice to bring a medal back home, nothing beats doing well for the country,” she said.

“It’s a massive confidence boost with the Asian Games around the corner. We would love to carry this rhythm there as well,” she added.

Dipika further praised her partner Harinder. “He is a fantastic player with a wonderful future. We haven’t played with each other, but we have known each other since the junior days and have travelled a lot together. Elated this partnership is working well. We go back, train harder work on a few things we need to look forward to doing better at the Asian Games.”

Earlier, on Thursday, Dipika-Harinder won against the top-seeded pair of Aira Azman and Shafiq Kamal of Malaysia.