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Sathwik Rai is a competitive racquetball player who was born in Bangalore, India and currently based in Saint Louis, Missouri, USA.
He captained Team India at the 2012 World Racquetball Championships in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic in Aug 2012. He also represented India at the 2010 World Racquetball Championships in Seoul, South Korea in August 2010.
Sportskeeda caught up with Sathwik to ask him a little bit about the sport and his career:
Q. We know that racquetball is played with a hollow ball and it is one of the fastest racquet sports. But could you please elaborate a bit more on how it is different from squash?
Rai: Racquetball is played on a larger court – 20ft wide by 40ft long by 20 ft high. The racquets have a broader head and shorter handle than squash racquets and the ball is bouncier than a squash ball.
The ceiling is a legitimate playing surface in racquetball and the ball can be hit as low as possible.
In this sport, sheer power and strategy can win you many matches whereas in squash touch and finesse play a bigger role.
Q. Racquetball is a whole new game in India. What made you take up the game competitively?
Rai: I came across racquetball in the US when I had just completed graduate studies in 2005. I was looking for an activity that would keep me in shape and give me a good cardio workout. Racquetball seemed like a perfect sport for that.
It looked like squash but the bouncy ball made it absolutely fun to play and the power with which players pounded the ball, drew me to the sport. I fell in love with racquetball the first time I tried it and played at least 3 times a week at the local club in Philadelphia. I started entering challenge nights and soon started beating the old timers and American club players which further motivated me and I decided that it would be fun to compete and see where I stand in the sport.
I entered my first Pennsylvania state tournament in 2007 and have been competing since.
Q. Where have you represented India in Swimming?
Rai: I swam for India at the Asia Pacific Age Group championships in Singapore in 1992 and won a bronze medal as part of the junior Indian Relay team.
Q. Why did you quit swimming?
Rai: In the late 90s, swimming in India was not really a sport you could make a career out of. At the most you could hope to be recruited by the Indian Railways or Border Security Force.
All my swimming achievements at the junior level for the state and the nation enabled me to secure a sports merit seat at one of the finest engineering colleges in India. I swam at the university level while in college and then after graduating, I quit competitive swimming completely to focus on my career and higher studies.
Q. Where do you train?
Rai: I train in Saint Louis, Missouri in the US.
Q. Could you tell us more about the facilities to train in India?
Rai: Unfortunately there are no facilities yet. But the first courts are coming up soon in Hyderabad under the leadership of RAI (Racquetball Association of India). We have been striving hard to raise awareness about the sport in India. Slowly but surely the interest level in the media and press has gone up and people are curious to learn more about the sport.
Q. Could you tell us more about your experience of representing India in racquetball?
Rai: It was an absolutely fabulous experience representing India in 2010 at the Seoul World Championships and I am looking forward to that honour again at this year’s World Championships in Santo Domingo.
We were playing against the best players in the World and it was interesting to see the different styles of play. There were 25 countries in Seoul and Team India finished 13th in the Mens Team Event. – an achievement to be really proud of as we did not have a proper coach and we had not trained together as a team before the event.
I personally felt really proud to have put India on the world racquetball map.
Q. What should be done to promote the game in India?
Rai: First and foremost, it is very important to get the youth involved in the sport. I would start by promoting it in schools and encouraging them to build a court or two in their sports auditoriums. This will get the school children enthused with the sport and they can carry the sport forward.
Secondly, I would really get private investors educated about this sport and have them invest towards court infrastructure.
It is also important that RAI gets a structure organized in each state that will be responsible for the development of the sport in their states. Another great option is to popularise outdoor racquetball – 3 wall racquetball – which is played outdoors and the infrastructure is cheaper and easier to set up. That may work well in India for a start!.
Q. Which countries have the best racquetball players?
Rai: USA is the dominant force in racquetball; Mexico, Canada and Bolivia all have top notch players in their teams.
