'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
A fresh breeze is wafting across the squash’s prime facility at the National Sports Club of India in Mumbai. The famed club has decided to upgrade its regular annual tournament for juniors, held since 2010, to a four-star event this year in keeping with the wholesome increase in the awareness and standards of the sport among players in the club in particular, and Mumbai and rest of India in general.
The Rs 6 lakh event will kick off the season’s junior programme in August, and will be followed by the Jaipur junior Open and the Indian junior open in Jodhpur later. The NSCI event has attracted no sponsors as yet, according to organiser Jay Jhaveri. This was not a concern area, he emphasized.
“If we get a sponsor it is good else we will ourselves find the resources for this higher prize money programme,” Jhaveri said, quite happy to state that the Mumbai club will the first to host a four-star event.
Jhaveri also said that one key reason to promote the tournament was the general improvement in the standards of the players who play at the club’s three main singles courts (NSCI has a doubles court as well).
“We have been giving a lot more push towards holding camps and coaching programmes. So much so that we felt the club should provide an opportunity for the players to exhibit their skills in the midst of the best in the country. Besides the points that a four-star event carry are higher and that is another benefit,” he said.
As always, the NSCI tournament is expected to get the best of talent from across the country. “We would have loved to get some foreign entrants too, but the Asian body does not give any weightage for the players taking part here, so that does not help,” Jhaveri said.
Even among the entries, he mentioned the growing numbers coming from South, some even from remote areas. “All an indication of how squash has grown which is the way it should be,” he said while highlighting the positives of squash as a sport. It is an all-weather sport, and requires only a small space to put up a court.
The NSCI has a tradition for squash with over 500 players on an average occupying the courts on a regular basis. The club has also been hosting a PSA event every year and this year even that event promises to fetch more for the players. “We have had players from various countries for the PSA event and it should be lot richer this time around,” he said.
The organisers had praise for the Squash Rackets Federation of India for the way it has encouraged the sport to grow. “Mumbai has a good base and now seeing the interest grow in the south where Kerala is the latest entry to prop up the sport, Mr Jhaveri agreed squash is in for great times ahead.
