Eight-Year Rising Star! by Bob Hanscom Ranking graph Graph Of An Eight-Year Rising Star
April 16, 2014
- Dipika Pallikal began her professional squash career about eight
years ago...in June of 2006. At that time, she was ranked #169 in the
world! One year later, at age 15, Dipika played a WISPA
tournament (the Epstein Becker & Green LA Open) at the prestigious
Los Angeles Athletic Club. Her world ranking had already risen 89
places to #80 by that time. Not a bad one-year improvement for
this…“rising squash star!” Dipika at The Los Angles Athletic Club in 2007 Photo Michael Burke Photography Los Angeles
At this tournament,
Dipika defeated former Canadian junior-national champion Dr. Sally
Norgate of San Diego in the qualifying finals, 9-1, 9-2, 9-0 in 18
minutes. Moving on to the main draw, Dipika lost to the #6 seed, then
world #30, Manuela Manetta of Italy, 2-9, 3-9, 7-9 in 28 minutes.
Lesson learned by the young 15 year-old pitted against a player ranked
30 places above her in the world rankings!
Four years later, in
September of 2011, Dipika played in the first Orange County
(California) Open, which she won over Egyptian qualifier Yathreb Adel,
11-6, 12-10, 11-9 in exactly one hour. This was her first WISPA title
of the year. While there in Los Angeles, Dipika visited friends and
relatives and attended a lovely reception hosted for her by Asish and
Anandy Law at their beautiful home in Glendale, which featured a
wonderful Indian buffet! Dipika at the home of Asish and Anandy Law
Fast forward to 2008,
moving up to #58 in the world, 2009 to #49, 2010 to #40, 2011 to #25,
2012 and 2013 to #15…and in February of 2014 to #10 the world!
Truly...a meteoric rise of 159 places in the women's professional
squash world rankings in just eight years! During this time, Dipika won
seven WSA titles, as well as making it to five additional finals. As if this wasn’t
enough to accomplish in this young squash-player’s life, in 2012 Dipika
became the first female squash-player to be conferred with the
prestigious Arjuna Award, India's second highest sporting award. The
Arjuna Awards were instituted in 1961 by the government of India to
recognize outstanding achievement in National sports. To be eligible
for this Award, a sportsperson should not only consistently have
achieved excellent performances at the international level for three
years, but should also have shown qualities of leadership,
sportsmanship and a sense of discipline. Dipika Pallikal Accepting The 2012 Arjuna Award
Moving on to this past
weekend at the $50,000 WSA 2014 Texas Open held at the downtown club at
the Met in Houston, which was run so aptly by John Leavy, Houston’s
HSRA President, Dipika...as the #4 seed, (now training with
five-time World Open champion Sarah Fitz-Gerald of Australia) had wins
over qualifier Donna Urquhart of Australia in three-games - and over
Nicolette Fernandes of Guyana in a 64 minute, five-game barn-burner.
She then went on to score a major upset in the semi-finals, defeating
Madeline Perry the Irish #1 (ranked four places above her in the world
rankings) in a 75 minute, five game battle, 11-7, (11-13), 13-11,
(10-12), 11-4 victory.
These wins earned
Dipika, also the former Asian Junior Champion, a place in the Texas
Open final against the three-time world junior champion from Egypt, 18
year-old Nour El-Sherbini. This was the biggest Tour final of Dipika's
career...to be sure!
Nour El-Sherbini and Dipika Pallikal in Houston
Although losing to
El-Sherbini in the four-game final, 5-11, 11-5, 7-11, 8-11 in 48
minutes, it's a pretty sure bet that Dipika, as the youngest player (at
22) currently ranked in the top 12 (a little temporary dip from #10) in
the world...will continue to be a "Rising Star" in the world of women's
professional squash.
Footnote: Dipika's
next big event is the British Open, scheduled for the week of May
12-18. She is the #12 seed, scheduled to meet a qualifier in the first
round and slated to meet the #5 player in the world, Alison Waters of
England in the second round. Stay tuned!
