Dipika Rebecca Pallikal
Award Name : Padma Shri
Year of Award : 2014
Award for : Sports and Games
Location : Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Dipika Rebecca Pallikal is an Indian squash player. She is the first Indian to break into the top 10 in the WSA rankings. Pallikal came to prominence in 2011, when she won three WISPA tour titles to attain a career-best ranking of 13th. She broke into the top 10 in December 2012. Pallikal was runner-up in the Tournament of Champions in 2012 and reached the semifinals of the 2012 Australian Open. She won her sixth WSA title by winning the Meadowood Pharmacy Open on February 2013. At the 2014 Commonwealth Games, Pallikal and Joshna Chinappa won gold in the squash women's doubles event. In 2014, he received the Padma Shri Award. She was born on 21 September 1991 in Chennai, India.
She has studied Good Shepherd School, till her
ninth standard and later moved to lady Andal School for her sports career. She
has been playing squash from the age of 10 years. Sarah Fitz-Gerald is her
official coach. She has played her first international tournament in London
when she was in her sixth grade. She is a right handed player and had
registered victories in German Open, Dutch Open, French Open, Australian Open
and Scottish Open on the European Junior Squash Circuit. She takes her training
classes at ICL-TNSRA Academy at Chennai. In November 2011, Dipika created
history by becoming the first ever Indian female player to enter the league of
last eight players by reaching the Quarter finals of World Open Squash
Championship. She also recived the prestigous award "Arjuna Award"
for Squash. Along with her squash career, she has also done bit of commercials
and endorse a few products.