19th Asian Squash Championship: Time for seniors to showcase their mettle
These are wonderful times for squash in India. First, the juniors went on a path-breaking spree, so to say with performances that were at once riveting and also historic to make many in the fraternity believe that Indian squash is marching ahead in right earnest.
Then came another boost, the happy announcement in fact from none other than Mr N. Ramachandran, the Patron of SRFI that the Federation had in principle accepted the professional players' request for a coach to travel with a player for major international events as part of an overall betterment drive.
True the Government of India has to give its approval but the very fact that the parent body has gone to the point of viewing a genuine demand of the players with compassion is acknowledgement enough that a coach's role is primary to good performance.
Indeed, Joshna Chinappa speaking on her behalf and her colleagues too would often point to the tough life that a professional player leads. Not only do they need to undergo sacrifices of various nature by living out of suitcase but also suffer for want of quality professional company.
Most players of leading countries, she once said, had their own coaches to travel with them. Not only would they keep tab on the players' performance level but also provide good insights for strategy-play.
“This most certainly helps on tours because we cannot depend only on our own counsel but also need to get tips on the contest to make changes in approach wherever required. It also helps when one knows there is a word of encouragement coming,” she said.
Having said that and with the generous mood shown by the Federation, it is time for the seniors to deliver or to put it more pointedly, match the performances of the juniors. The one big occasion for this is to come up shortly with the Asian individual championship in Chennai just a month and a half away.
The junior boys have proved they are the best in Asia and Velavan Senthilkumar, in addition, has established himself as the champion player in the continent.
It is now the turn of the seniors to showcase their mettle. History has never been kind to the Indian seniors thus far.
It was in 1981 that the first Asian Championship was conducted, expectedly in Pakistan, for that was the time when the world of squash was ruled by a sensation named Jehangir Khan, who became a legend.
Pakistan was the leading force in the sport then and this was reflected in the list of honours of that time with Qaamar Zaman, Mir Zaman Gul, Zarak Jahan Khan and like taking turns to win the title. In addition, players like Maqsood Ahmed, Umar Hayat, Farhan Samiullah and Subair Jehan Khan helping in making it an all-Pak final in most early editions.
It was only in the year 1996 when the eighth edition of the Championship was conducted in Jordan that for the first time an Indian name came on board of the finalists – Misha Grewal. The Delhi player was the first to earn a right to fight for the title.
Though she lost to Leong Siu Lynn of Malaysia in the final, she still remains the only one from the country to have won a silver (men and women put together) and we are now waiting for the 19th edition of the Championship! Will the wheels of fortune change for India!
Much has happened from that early phase. Most significantly Pakistan has given way to Malaysia to dominate for a while and more so in the women's section where there was none to look beyond Nicol David, the unstoppable machine, who went on to win nine titles, including eight in a row!
From the Indian point of view, a little vibrancy was seen with players like Ritwik Bhattacharya and Saurav Ghosal. Also, Joshna Chinappa and Dipika Pallikal found their path to the quarterfinals post the new millennium. Indeed three of them – Saurav, Dipika and Joshna – even progressed from there on to win the bronze medal after making it to the semi-finals.
However, Misha's record remains untouched. Once the highest ranked Indian in the world ranking, Misha lost that honour to Joshna and Dipika at various times, both having scaled above 27, the rank that the Delhi champion had held since 1995.
Will we see a new dawn in respect of Indian fortunes in the Asian championship this time around? Keen observers will say India now has the potential with the best three Saurav, Dipika and Joshna having shown enough moments to rise to the occasion, particularly in team competitions.
This aspect alone will make the latest edition that will unfold in home conditions, particularly interesting to look forward to. National coach Cyrus Poncha sums it up aptly, “It has been a brilliant 2017, winning the British and Asian titles. We are now looking to make history on our home turf.”