2022 Commonwealth Games | 14-year-old Anahat Singh makes the squash team
A file image of Anahat Singh.
|(Twitter)
Dipika Pallikal, the reigning global women's and mixed doubles champion, will captain India's nine-member squash squad at the Commonwealth Games 2022, which will be hosted in Birmingham. Pallikal and Chinappa will pair in women's doubles, while the former will team with Saurav Ghosal in the mixed.
Pallikal has not competed in professional singles since 2019 and will most likely only compete in doubles at Birmingham in 2022.
Meanwhile, India's top hopes in their respective singles categories in the CWG 2022 are Joshna Chinappa and Saurav Ghosal. 15th in the world India's top-ranked men's player is Saurav Ghosal. In the women's rankings, world No. 17 Joshna Chinappa is the lone Indian in the top 100. Both players are presently practising at the Indian Squash Academy in Chennai in preparation for the Commonwealth Games in 2022.
Anahat Singh, 14, is also on the Indian squash team, having won the Asian U-15 title earlier this year. Squash has been a Commonwealth Games sport since 1998. However, India's first medal came in 2014, when Joshna Chinappa and Dipika Pallikal won gold in the women's doubles.
Joshna Chinappa and Dipika Pallikal finished second at the 2018 Commonwealth Games after losing in the final. Dipika had also placed second with Saurav Ghosal in the mixed doubles.
The Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham will take place from July 28 to August 8. The squash competitions will begin on July 29 at the University of Birmingham Hockey and Squash Centre.
