Dipika-Harinder pair wins Asian mixed doubles squash championships
The Hindu
Dipika-Harinder pair wins Asian mixed doubles squash championships 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 to win the Asian mixed doubles squash championships.
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.
Asian Games champion Avinash Sable opened his season in the 3000m steeple chase with a silver in the Portland Track Festival, a World Athletics Continental Tour bronze event, in Oregon on Saturday. He clocked 8:21.85s. Asian champion Parul Chaudhary took the bronze in the women’s 3000m steeple chase in a season-best 9:31.38s. Former Asian bronze medallist Sanjivani Jadhav struck gold in the women’s 10,000m in 32:22.77s, a time which was a second off her personal best, while Seema was sixth in 32:55.91s.