Dipika Pallikal and Harinderpal Singh Sandhu were crowned champions of the inaugural Asian Mixed Doubles Championship in Hangzhou, China on Friday after the Indian duo defeated the Malaysian pair of Rachel Arnold and Ivan Yuen 11-10, 11-8.
It was a double-medal day for India as the young pairing of Anahat Singh and Abhay Singh, who had lost to Arnold and Yuen in the semi-final, clinched the bronze medal.
On Thursday, Pallikal and Sandhu overcame the top-seeded Malaysian pair of Aira Azman and Shafiq Kamal in the semi-finals to book their spot in the summmit clash.
Anahat and Abhay lost a tight semi-final to Arnold and Yuan 11-10, 4-11, 6-11.
Asian Squash Mixed Doubles Championships, 🇨🇳Update☑️
— SAI Media (@Media_SAI) June 30, 2023
Team 🇮🇳 finishes their campaign with 1⃣🥇 & 1⃣🥉
The pair of Dipika Pallikal & Harinder Pal Singh defeated team 🇲🇾 in the final to win🥇
Meanwhile, the 🇮🇳 duo of Anahat & Abhay secured 🥉 after losing a close SF pic.twitter.com/gVdbZ8Jllw
Good prep for Asian Games
Pallikal believed that this win was good preparation for the upcoming Asian Games in September-October, which will be held in the same city.
“It went according to plan,” she said to Sportstar . “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 added, “It’s a massive confidence boost with the Asian Games around the corner. We would love to carry this rhythm there as well.”
The Asian Games will feature the mixed doubles event in squash for the first time, with this event being held as a precursor.