Velavan Senthilkumar : A player to watch out for

Velavan Senthilkumar in action

As the year 2015 nears completion and when one looks back on the squash scene that is just going by then if there is one junior who looks good to keep up the heartening legacy of the Indian squash academy in Chennai then it has to be Velavan Senthilkumar.

The reigning national junior champion and currently the top junior in the country, this 17-year old lad hardly gives the feeling of a player in focus. “Keep doing the good work “is his motto and that is what drives him on as he looks to live up to the expectations of his coaches Maj S. Maniam and Cyrus Poncha of being the next best thing to happen at the ISA.

The neatly talented left-hander, Velavan is a typical fighter on the court more like his seniors Harinder Pal Sandhu ad Kush Kumar. Being a southpaw gives him that little advantage of adding deception to his stroke-play and that has stood him in good stead. But more than that what is heartening about this suave lad is his resilience and ability to wriggle out of tight corners. Strong in his basics, Velavan, of course, has still miles to go before he can rise up as a top-flight professional. That can wait but for the moment, he relishes in the splashes he has been making in junior level tourneys in and around.

Velavan remembers the ISA junior open crown he won in his own backyard beating the erstwhile junior champion Yohan Darius Pandole in a thrilling final in the U-19 section. Thoroughness in what he did stood out in this match as he pleased his coach Maj Maniam with his grit and guile. It is always a pleasant sight to see the pupil come to the master after a contest to discuss the plus and minus points. It does not matter that he has won the match and the crown but the word of approval has to come from his teacher for him to relish the moment of victory.

For all this, Velavan remembers he would not have been in squash at all had his budding tennis career flourished! “I am not sure what made by parents change me from tennis to squash. But I think it was the interruptions in tennis training through rains or other factors that made them decide,” he said as a matter of fact. Quick to adapt to this racket sport, Velavan at age 10 then, began to show his inclination to learn fast at the ISA. The additional benefit of being in an academy was not only wholesome development but also the interaction with seniors. “I used to regularly play with senior players,” he would say and surely nothing else can prop up a junior’s confidence.

Currently, on a sabbatical so to say, for he has completed his schooling at the Don Bosco in Chennai and decided to give his all for squash rather than look to higher studies yet. Not that academics has been put on the back-burner but as he put it, “I am going to concentrate on the sport for this one year and see.” Perhaps there is a hint that he is looking abroad for higher studies but that he assured would not be at the expense of squash.

Velavan considers his bronze medal win in singles and a silver medal in mixed doubles (partnering Harshit Kaur Jawanda) at the Samoa Commonwealth youth Games his best show in the year. Though it must be said, this young lad had a quarterfinal finish in the Asian juniors and in the Indian senior nationals to show. He has been making a splash regularly of late and that is good augury for the future and as he sets off for the US junior Open and from there to the British junior Open to return only in the New Year, India waits for another champion to emerge. (ends)