KARTHIK Dipika Pallikal

General
MATERNITY BREAK AND RETURN
She took a break from the sport between 2018 and 2022 in order to start a family. After giving birth to twin sons in October 2021, she returned to training later that year at the Indian Squash Academy in Chennai, India, and returned to competition at the 2022 World Doubles Championships in Glasgow, Scotland. "I think as an athlete it's important to make those tough decisions when you hit a roadblock, feel stagnated, and are not happy with your rankings. It was a hard decision to take when I dropped out in 2018. Coming back to the sport has been hard both mentally and physically. But, I am happy at making it back to the Indian team. The priority is to play for the country and win medals. That's also the responsibility of going back home to my boys. I like this life." (Joshna Chinappa Instagram profile, 10 Apr 2022; timesofindia, 03 Apr 2022; sportstar, 24 Mar 2022; yourstory, 11 Mar 2022; sportstar.thehindu男子棍术, 09 Feb 2022)

BUSINESS
During her break from the sport between 2018 and 2022, she and a childhood friend established an interior design business in India. "Though I don't have a background in interior design, I took the brave step of starting something I knew very little about." (yourstory, 11 Mar 2022; architecturaldigest, 03 Sep 2022)

She and Saurav Ghosal became the first Indian squash players to win a gold medal at the world doubles championships, following their victory in the mixed event at the 2022 edition in Glasgow, Scotland. Later on the same day, she won the women's doubles title alongside Joshana Chinappa to become the first Indian player to win multiple titles at the tournament. (SportsDeskOnline, 06 May 2022; sportstar, 09 Apr 2022)

She became the first Indian female squash player to win an individual medal at the Asian Games when she won bronze in singles at the 2014 Games in Incheon, Republic of Korea. In 2014 she and Joshana Chinappa also became the first Indian squash players to win gold at the Commonwealth Games when they triumphed in women's doubles in Glasgow, Scotland. (sports, 22 Sep 2014; SportsDeskOnline, 01 Jul 2018; sportstar, 09 Apr 2022; espn, 09 Apr 2022)