The resurgence of Indian squash- From Chinappa to Prabhu

Dipika Pallikal and Joshna Chinappa with their 2014 Commonwealth Games gold

India’s performances in Squash in recent times have been impressive to say the least. Right from the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014, the players have put in some commendable performances including winning the gold medal in the Women's doubles event where Dipika Pallikal and Joshna Chinappa beating Great Britain’s Jenny Duncalf and Laura Massaro in the final quite convincingly.

The triumph at Glasgow was followed by further glory at the Asian Games in Incheon where India recorded their best ever performance in any edition, winning a total of 4 medals and finishing in second place behind Malaysia with a total tally of 4 medals, that included a gold in the Men’s Doubles event.

The year 2015 has seen them taste further success with Joshna Chinappa clinching the Australian Open title in August and then Saurav Ghosal winning the Kolkata International last Sunday and finishing runners-up at the NSCI Mumbai Open, prior to that.

The impact of the performance by the players on both the national as well as the international front has not just had an extremely positive impact on the way the world looks at Indian squash but it has also a resounding impact on the next crop of emerging players.

The impact of the senior exploits on juniors

The best example to cite the impact can be elicitated by the performance by the junior players at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Samoa, where 17-year-old Velavan Senthilkumar provided glimpses of his potential, clinching the bronze medal in the Men’s Singles event and also won a silver medal with another promising youngster Harshit Kaur Jawanda in the Mixed Doubles category.

Apart from them, several other youngsters have also been putting terrific performances in the many other events back home as well. The Jaipur Junior Open saw a new champion in Navaneeth Prabhu emerge in the Under-13 category.

In the Women’s category, the likes of Akanksha Salunkhe, who is currently the number one ranked Under-17 player in India, Aishwarya Bhattacharya, who is ranked third in the U-19 category.

The ongoing Jodhpur Junior Open has seen also more player come to the fore with the likes of Neel Joshi in the Boys U13 category, Mayuri Namasivayam in Girls U19 category etc putting up extremely

Credit through must also be given to the Squash and Rackets Federation of India(SRFI) for setting up an extensive junior programme in India and encouraging more kids to take the sport. Here’s hoping this trend of producing good prospect in squash continues and India continues to do well in the sport and brings more glory.