Maj S. Maniam turned emotional the other day as he walked into the Indian Squash Academy, the facility that he was associated with for 14 years before he returned to Malaysia last May.
It was a year since he had left the ISA, an institution that had grown from strength to strength after the initial propping up that he as Consultant Coach and his team had done. The just-concluded Asian Championship gave him an opportunity to come to Chennai again and a WSF level II course kept him in the city longer and also helped him renew his touch with the Academy he had fondly nurtured.
Such was his bond with the people associated with the Academy that right from the man who brought him his daily steaming ginger tea to the people who kept everything at the facility going, Maj Maniam had a special place for each.
“Ah Velliapathy, how are you? Hope everything is going well?“, he would ask his tea provider in fluent Tamil, as he accepts a steaming cup from him. And thus followed his enquiries with the others.
“I had a good circle of people around, staff, the parents of players, Malaysian friends, members of the MCC and others. Well, it was nice to catch up. More importantly, I felt elated that they came calling on me as soon as they knew that I had come,” he said, clearly indicating his happiness.
“It was heartening to meet and talk to some of the trainees I had worked with, to know their progress and the things they were doing,” he went on. Indeed Maj Maniam felt contended that the ISA was going strong and keeping its standards high.
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It seemed that his visit with the Malaysian players for the Asian Championship coincided with India making history in the Championship with Joshna Chinappa claiming the women's crown and Saurav Ghosal and Dipika Pallikal Karthik making it to the title round.
Not since 1996 when Misha Grewal became the first Indian to reach the final in the women's section had another parallel performance come through. All the three who were architects of this historic moment were at one time ISA trainees under him and his team. “Yes they were in the camp,” said Maj in a wistful and humble way, without wanting to be too effusive.
“Yes, I will not forget the moments, my time in ISA and all that has happened to Indian squash. However, I am up against bigger challenges,” he said of his present position. As the Director of the Squash Rackets Association of Malaysia (SRAM), his responsibility transcended coaching. He has an administrative load to bear too.
“Yes I am getting into the groove,” he said even as he gave a picture of what is in store for Malaysian squash. The Chennai edition, he said, in a way showcased the future of his country's squash.
With top player Nicol David preferring to bypass the event which she had won a record number of times, the next best Delia Arnold deciding to retire to raise a family and experienced Low Wee Wern nursing injury, the burden of expectations fell on the shoulders of relative newcomers Rachel Arnold, Andrea Lee and Aifa Azman.
“They did creditably,” he said. In the men's section, he said, Mohd Nafizwan, Yuen and Ng Eain Yow looked quite capable. “I am sure in the coming days you would hear more of them all,” he said.
Yet, for all this, the widely travelled coaching expert Maj Maniam believes that when it comes to excellence in world squash, “it is difficult to look beyond Egypt.” Such was their supremacy, he said, you could always feel their disinterest in the discussion of players below the top 10 in the world.
All of this had to do with the broad base of squash there and the involvement of top champions in coaching the players of the future. “When you have the best players in the world associating in giving back their experience and knowledge, inspiration is not far away for the up and coming to excel,” he said of the Egyptian scenario, that would remain untouched for some time to come.
