Dipika Pallikal, one of India’s top squash players, said the sport not figuring in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics is not a loss for the sport but for the Olympics.
“Squash has grown a lot in the last seven years. It is only the Olympics which is the loser rather than squash,” she said.
Dipika said the squash administration had done all it could to promote the sport — getting good television coverage, building new glass courts and changing a lot of rules — but those were to no avail.
“It was really frustrating. We were clueless (on why squash was left out),” she said, on the sidelines of the launch of the Audio R8V10 plus car here on Saturday.
The World No. 18 said when it was reported that baseball/softball, karate, sports climbing, skateboarding and surfing were provisionally selected for the Tokyo Games, “we [squash players] all laughed about it.”
Dipika said her focus was on the World doubles championship to be held in Darwin (Australia) from August 15 to 19.
“Obviously, we [Joshna and I] have not practiced together. We will have to do it soon. The tournament will be as competitive as the Commonwealth Games. We might be seeded either one or two. We have to win it,” she said. “We enjoy playing together. We complement and understand each other well. We are eager to do well in the Darwin event.”
About the new coach of the Squash Rackets Federation of India, Ashraf El Karargui, Dipika said, “he has big shoes to fill as Maj. Maniam had a huge impact on us. We are looking forward to working with the new coach,” she said.
Aditya’s aimAditya Patel said his aim was to finish in the top three in the 2016 Audi LMS Cup where he will be driving for Team Audi China.
