Born in a sports family, Dipika Pallikal turned a sports professional squash player in 2006.
In January 2012, she became the first Indian ever to reach the summit clash of a Silver event when she reached the final of the Tournament of Champions squash meet in New York. In August same year, she went one step further when she reached the semi-finals of a gold event, the 2012 Australian Open.
In February 2016 South Asian Games, she was part of the gold medal winning Indian Women’s team.
After getting married to Dinesh Karthik she continued to play for 2016-17 PSA Season commencing August 2016.
Women Fitness team is grateful to Dipika Pallikal for sharing her interview on our website. Read on.
Namita Nayyar:
Born in the family of a Sportsperson, where you always keen to represent your country in sports. Pen down your journey as a world-renowned squash player and the Padma Shri award holder
Dipika Pallikal:
I was always part of some sport or the other in school, so for me sport came to me very naturally. When I took up squash, little did I know I wanted to make a career out of it. So, for me to represent my country at the highest level is something I’m very proud of.
Namita Nayyar:
You are often referred to as one of the most glamorous sportswomen and have also featured on few fashion magazines as well. Tell us more about your personal style
Dipika Pallikal:
For me, my style is all about being comfortable. Especially for us we are always in our training gears and hardly get the time to dress up, so for me it has always been comfortable and easy.
Namita Nayyar:
Since Women Fitness India talks about celebrity diets and fitness secrets. Share your diet schedule during your training period and when off the court. 3 supplements you vouch for.
Dipika Pallikal:
I have never really played around with my diet. I blindly follow what my nutritionist tells me to do. More importantly we travel so much that is it gets hard to eat exactly what is on the diet. I have always made sure that i eat healthy but more importantly I have always stressed on the importance that cheat meals are important too.
Namita Nayyar:
There has been a buzz, that your fitness routine impressed Virat Kohli, Share with us your workout routine and your favorite indoor workout routine
Dipika Pallikal:
During training, I work out nearly every day. Alternate days of Gym work and court work. I also do a lot of outdoor running which is integrated in my programmes.
The indoor workout that I have enjoyed lately is Pilates. I really enjoy it. It works well for me.
Namita Nayyar:
The lockdown period has been very frustrating especially for sportspersons, but not for you, as you shared “We have discovered new ways of keeping fit at home”. Do share your daily routine at home. Also as is resuming back in place, what are your upcoming Squash schedule and projects
Dipika Pallikal:
It was a different period for us at home for sure. Specially to have both myself and DK at home for so long. I’ve always enjoyed working out anywhere, so for me it wasn’t something that I had to find motivation towards, but we were clear that even though we weren’t playing our sports we wanted to mentally and physically be fit once everything ended.
So, awe stuck to our schedules and diet and just treated it as an off-season training.
Namita Nayyar:
In your journey of being a World Champion, who has played the most inspirational role. Staying positive is important to share one life quote that you live by. 5 ways to stay positive, placed in order of priority
Dipika Pallikal:
My family and my team have played the biggest role in making me who I am today. I have had many coaches during the different stages of my career and all of them have equally contributed to me being the athlete I am off and on the court. Staying positive is especially important for an athlete.
Especially for a sport like squash where you play tournaments every week and sometimes you have a bad week but must bounce back for the next tournament. Staying positive is so important. But I have always believed it is especially important to love what you are doing.
I have always loved playing the sport and traveling and even if had a few ups and downs I always stayed positive through buy journey because I knew I was doing something i loved.
Namita Nayyar:
How do you strike a balance between your personal and professional life? Since Dinesh Karthik is also busy with his own cricket schedule.
Dipika Pallikal:
Both of us being athletes is making our schedule quite demanding. But we try to catch up with each other whenever we can. If we go for about 2-3 months without seeing each other, we know one of us must fly down to be with each other even if that is for a day, and that’s been a rule we have set.
Namita Nayyar:
It has always been said that your professional career has been full of ups and down, do you feel that those downfalls and failures played a major catalyst in your journey. 4 tips for upcoming sports players to stick by
Dipika Pallikal:
Definitely. I always feel that you learn a lot more from your losses than your wins. So, I have always taken both hand in hand and accepted defeat but also learnt from it the most. I think the most important tip would be to fight it out even when the going gets hard. I think that is one thing that I have believed in throughout my career and its really helped.
Namita Nayyar:
Women Fitness India helps in promoting the overall wellbeing of women in India and worldwide, please share a message for our viewers that why it is important to be fit mentally and physical
Dipika Pallikal:
Fitness has become a way of life for a lot of people today. It is not so much about the physical aspect, but more it helps in the overall being of someone. I have always believed that fitness should be enjoyed, whichever form you choose. So, choose something that you enjoy doing and the results will follow.
Dipika Pallikal on:
This interview is exclusive and taken by Namita Nayyar, President womenfitness.org and should not be reproduced, copied or hosted in part or full anywhere without an express permission.
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