Dipika Pallikal: Coach's exit disheartening but focussed on defending CWG gold

Dipika PallikalAll that could go wrong has gone wrong for Indian squash in the last four weeks but a disheartened Dipika Pallikal has chosen to take it in her stride as she aims to defend the doubles gold alongside Joshna Chinappa in the Gold Coast Games beginning April 4 The acrimonious exit of foreign coach Achraf El Karargui days before the CWG has affected the teams preparations but medal hopefuls Pallikal Chinappa and Saurav Ghosal remain optimistic of their chances in all three events singles doubles and mixed doublesPallikal and Chinappa especially worked intensely with Karargui over the past two years The squad gathered in Chennai on March 19 and will depart for Gold Coast this weekend I cannot speak for others but it not having a coach is disheartening I have been training with him for over two years and it is hard not to have him in your corner during the Games Having said that we are all professionals and we realise we have a very important job at hand that is to defend our gold Pallikal told PTIHe Karargui was the biggest asset for the team I think he has changed a lot for Indian squash For me I know that I will be on a phone call with him everyday It has all gone downhill in the last four weeks and now we are just trying to move forward she said furtherOn her chances in Gold Coast Pallikal said wining a medal is possible in all three categories with the best bet being the womens doubles gold she and Chinappa won in Glasgow four years ago It was the first ever squash medal for India in Games history The doubles contest will be unpredictable like last time as only singles is played on the professional circuitThe Indian pair upset the Malaysian combine of legendary Nicol David and Low Wee Wern before stunning the top seeds from England Laura Massaro and Jenny Duncalf in the gold medal match This time Pallikal has a first round bye in singles and the ninth seed is drawn to meet fifth seed Alison Waters of England in the Round of 16 If she overcomes that hurdle eighttime world champion Nicol David awaits her in the quartersEighth seed Chinappa is drawn to meet second seed Joelle King in the last eight stage Our best chance is womens doubles but anything can happen in that format as we dont play it often As of now singles will be played first and we are focussed on that There is a good chance of winning a singles medal too Every match is going to be hard Without a doubt it is going to be exhausting playing three categories But we have managed in the past so hopefully this time it should not be much of an issue either said PallikalThe 26yearold has also found the extra motivation from cricketer husband Dinesh Karthik who singlehandedly won India the recent triseries in Sri Lanka with a lastball six It has been very hard two years for both of us We have hardly have spent anytime because of our hectic schedules He totally deserves what he has achieved in the last one year and surely it gives me additional motivation to do well too she said referring to Karthik who cheered her from the sidelines in Glasgow four years agoCatch up on all the latest sports news and updates here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updatesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever