India won two gold medals at the WSF World Doubles Squash Championships on the back of brilliant performances by Dipika Pallikal Karthik, Saurav Ghosal and Joshna Chinappa at the Scotstoun Leisure Centre in Glasgow on Saturday.
In the mixed doubles final, Dipika and Saurav defeated the English duo Alison Waters and Adrian Waller 11-6, 11-8. This was India’s first ever gold at the doubles championships.
In 2016 Dipika and Saurav had reached the final at the championship, losing to Joell King and Paul Coll from New Zealand.
Meanwhile in the women’s doubles final, Dipika and Joshna Chinappa defeated the higher-ranked pair of Sarah-Jane Perry and Alison Waters 11-9, 4-11, 11-8 (after having lost to them in the pool stage).
Dipika last featured in the 2018 Asian Games, where she won a bronze in the singles event, and was making her return to professional squash after a gap of four years.
“For us women, our bodies go through a lot, day in and day out, and I think it’s important to believe in ourselves,” Dipika, who give birth to twins last October, was quoted as saying by World Squash after she reached the mixed doubles final on Friday.
“What’s really worked for me is I’ve had a lot of support from family and friends and that’s why I’m here today, because a lot of people believed in me.”
Cyrus Poncha, former national coach and current secretary general of the Squash Rackets Federation of India, said: “I am absolutely delighted with this result. Twenty years ago, the federation set out a target to win a World Championship, which has been achieved today. Saurav, Dipika and Joshna have dedicated their life to squash and this result is evidence of the same.”
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