Dipika Pallikal, now a mother and interior designer, back on squash court after four years

Dipika Pallikal is back on the court after four years, a break she needed to start a family and to do "something different" in her life with her career graph "stagnating". Blessed with twins last October, the 31-year-old has been training hard for the last couple of months with the focus on the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games later this year. Pallikal, who established an interior designing business in her time away from the game, is aiming to create more history at the two multi-sporting events. She is expected to take part in the doubles events in the Birmingham Games before gradually increasing her workload to also play singles in the Hangzhou Games.

Pallikal and India's highest ranked player Joshna Chinappa had won India's first ever gold in CWG history at the Glasgow edition back in 2014. Speaking to PTI on motherhood and comeback, Pallikal said she was fortunate to have had a support system which allowed her to take time off from the game back in 2018. The former world number 10 was ranked in the top-20 when she took the break but she was not able to move up the ladder, making her decision easier. Being mother of twin boys is "double the hard work" but Pallikal, married to cricketer Dinesh Karthik, is enjoying this special phase of her life. "Yeah it is hard (being a mother and professional athlete) but I don't want to emphasise on it. Obviously, it's hard with the sleep cycle of the kids and it is double the work because of twins. "My husband is also an athlete, and he's away training and playing. So a lot of responsibility lies on me but obviously I'm very lucky to have had to have a solid system, a family, that helps me with my scheduling that I still go for training in the morning and the evening.