Interview with India's squash ace Kush Kumar: "Still looking for sponsors so I can train well"

Caption

After a stellar junior career during which he captured the 2014 Junior World Championship bronze medal, 19-year-old Kush Kumar has embarked on his journey in the senior circuit.

The talented teen has already started reaping the rewards of his hard work, clinching his maiden PSA title at the Tasmanian Open in July. After a superb Australian Tour, the youngster played in the Indian Squash Circuit and the results helped him break into the top 100 of the PSA rankings for the first time.

Sportskeeda recently caught up with Indian squash’s newest sensation and the 91st ranked Kush spoke about his title win, his training, his idol and much more.

Excerpts

Winning your maiden PSA title must have given you major confidence? What are the areas where you think you have made lots of improvements in the last few months?

Winning my first PSA title in Australia at such a young age was really wonderful for me. From the start of the tournament through to the final, I was playing really well in Australia.

Right now, I am working with David Palmer who is in Florida. So, after every match I was talking to him and he was telling me how to play, what you have to do for tomorrow, what you have to do after your matches. So I am really working on these.

Till now I was playing in junior squash, but right now I have moved to PSA. Palmer told me that when you play big players, you have to keep your pace up just to stay with them because they won’t break down. In junior squash, you hit 2-3 shots and they are not able to pick it up and you get points. But in senior squash, everyone picks up everything. So, you have to stick with them and play your best squash.

How much have the stints with former World No. 1 Palmer helped in developing your game both physically and mentally?

Obviously, his training stints are really hard like three times in a day. When I go there and come back, my confidence level, on a scale of 10, is like above 10. Every time I go there and come back, I start playing really well.

So, I am trying to find a sponsor so that I can stay there and play PSA over there. I want to make my base over there. But I don’t have any sponsor now. Obviously, I would love to train with him all the time, but unfortunately, I am not able to.

Having had such a prolific junior career, expectations are naturally higher from you in the professional circuit. Does it add more pressure?

I don’t think it does because each and every match is important for me. I don’t like taking too much pressure on myself like you have to do really well on this tournament and that. I just started my PSA career, so I am really looking forward to just enjoying the circuit and playing my best squash. And I am enjoying it and loving it so far.

What do you enjoy the most about being a squash player?

To meet lots of new people, make new friends and get to hang out with them and go out for dinner. They talk about their country and we talk about our country, so it is a good way to know about the world like what is happening in their country and what is good there. It is really a good advantage for all the squash players to get to know all around the world.

Who has been your idol in squash? What do you admire the most about him?

My idol is Ramy Ashour. I love the way he plays….like he keeps attacking, he never plays a defensive game. He is so fast on the court, so I too want to become so fast and pick up everything and attack from everywhere as much as possible.

What is your next goal?

Breaking into the top 50 is my next target.