Ready to pull up her 145;socks146;

Not all superstitions serve them well all the time. South African cricketer Neil McKenzie grew out of his habit of taping...

Not all superstitions serve them well all the time. South African cricketer Neil McKenzie grew out of his habit of taping the bat to the ceiling, attributing it to fatherhood and its attentive responsibilities. Serena Williams8217;s persistence with wearing the same socks throughout the tournament didn8217;t give her any particular advantage in her latest battle with sister Venus for Wimbledon supremacy.

Closer home, playing her first-ever professional final in Chennai on Sunday, Dipika Pallikal realised her improvisation of the Serena-superstition 8212; she wears the same socks through the week, tweaking it further as they aren8217;t from the same pair 8212; didn8217;t quite aid her much, losing to Hong Kong8217;s Annie Au. Indian squash8217;s 16-year-old pin-up also straps on two different shoes every time she takes to the glass courts, but asserted that the problem on the day had more to do with her impetuous stroke-making than her dissimilar footwear.

But Pallikal8217;s in no hurry to drop her ways yet. She will continue to sport a blue here and a gold there, with multi-coloured laces to include her favourite pink. But, even as she whoops about her craze for the girly-pink, Pallikal maintains her maiden final taught her what separated squash8217;s stylish girls from the winning women.

8220;I have to learn how to play the seniors game,8221; says the world No 64. 8220;it8217;s very different from the juniors since players at this level are extremely fit, and what you need to do is keep the ball in, and just play, play, play.8221; It was a lesson her senior Joshna Chinappa 8212; equally restive about killing the ball in her initial years 8212; has worked on, and Dipika will gladly want to follow.

Still, making the final summed up a fine week for the youngster who had earlier reached the finals of the Asian junior event. 8220;It was a good week with a good win against the world No 33 in the quarter-finals,8221; Pallikal says of one of her top career-scalps Christina Mak, where she forced her opponent into corners throughout the game. Later, Pallikal won against Dutch pro Orla Noom, tiring out her injured rival, but did what 16-year-old yuppies would do 8212; attempted flashy retorts when put up on the final stage 8212; to lose 10 straight points.

Working on stability

Pallikal next plays WISPA events in Malaysia and Singapore before returning to Egypt 8212; her training base. And India8217;s No 2 will work to add stability to the present strength-stamina regimen. She stays silent on her feud with the SRFI, but was glad to make her first important final where she grew up playing the game. 8220;I started squash at 10 right there,8221; she says, adding that the presence of family and old training mates had helped her in this tournament.

From the diagonal baby-steps on the squash-court to setting a foot-fashion trend by wearing a dissimilar pair, Pallikal, though, admits that winning finals requires more than superstition.