Indian Sports is filled with many celebrated athletes who have great sporting skills, athleticism, speed, fitness, great mental health and a lot of other things. In our country, they are given the same status as any other celebrity from a different field.
If an athlete has the additional advantage of being good-looking, they become a complete package. Not only because the top brands try to rope them as the face but because they get the best of the world.
Also, it is difficult to not admire beautiful athletes on TV ads, movies or in sports. The reason is simple - athletes are one of the most attractive people on earth.
Poster girl of Indian squash
Dipika Pallikal, one of India's top-ranked squash player has set one record after another and has achieved things for the nation that many athletes can only dream of.
She is a pleasure to watch when she represents India - true beauty in motion. Although she is busy with year-round tournaments, it doesn't stop her from being in the public eye.
The poster girl of Indian squash who single-handedly put Indian women’s squash on the world map proves that you can be beautiful and still be a gifted athlete. I do not intend to discredit the athletic ability of the 23-year-old from Chennai.
When Pallikal is on the court you can bet that all eyes are glued to her winning form. Off the court, she knows how to mesmerize the audience with her smile and confidence which are enough to win the gold medal of your heart.
Modelling if not squash
Although she is a superstar in her sport, yet easily she could have been a supermodel. She has flaunted her good looks while gracing the pages and covers of Femina, Verve and Vogue.
The current World No. 18 has gone on to bring medals for India - be it the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games, Asian Games last year or the recently-concluded South Asian Games.
Dipika, who turned professional in 2006, claimed a career-best ranking of 14 in 2012 surpassing the earlier best world ranking of former national champion Misha Grewal in 1995.
With her partner Joshna Chinappa, the squash ace stole the limelight when they became the first squash pair of the country to bring home a gold medal in the Commonwealth Games.
The first female squash player of the country to win the Arjuna Award and Padma Shri, Dipika is the first Indian to break into the top 10 of the women's squash (WSA) rankings.
From becoming the best squash player in the country to making squash one of the medal-winning sport in the country, Pallikal has gone on to set a stellar example for the youngsters to follow.
Married Indian cricketer Dinesh Karthik
Not long ago, India's squash queen slammed a reporter of a certain men's lifestyle website after he criticized her husband as an unattractive guy in his article.
Apparently, she got furious after the website carried a report with the title '7 Reasons Why Attractive Women Often Date Unattractive Men' with a photograph of Dipika and Dinesh Karthik.
The article was removed later but Dipika went on to prove everything is fair in love and war.
She has always been vocal about hating cricketers because of the hype and attention they get. But she has been spotted in the IPL a number of times. Dinesh, on the other hand, watched Pallikal win a historic gold in the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
Dipika has a long way to go in the world of squash in the years to come.
As of now, let's keep our eyes on her (yes, I know that won't be difficult) since she will break many a barrier on the world stage.
