Squash dreams rest on tested warhorses
DIPIKA PALLIKAL SAURAV GHOSAL JOSHNA CHINAPPA
STATUS QUO With the new generation not showing potential, India will have to rely on stalwarts like Dipika Pallikal and Joshna Chinappa to bring home glory
It’s heartening, no doubt, to see the names of Joshna Chinappa, Dipika Pallikal and Saurav Ghosal doing the rounds again as another edition of the Commonwealth Games approaches. However, the longevity of the champion trio brings to the fore a glaring question about the progress of the sport in India.
Joshna, Dipika and Ghosal, have been Indian squash’s ambassadors-cumchampions for more than a decade now. While the sport has found the next generation of world leaders, moving on from the likes of Ramy Ashour to the El Shorbagy brothers among men, and from Nicol David to Nour el Sherbini in the women’s segment, the reign of the Indian champions is yet to be challenged in the country.
This, even after Joshna, Dipika and Ghosal, whose game grew by leaps and bounds in the build-up to the 2010 CWG in New Delhi when squash, like many other sports, got additional funding from the government to plan exposure and training for the players, have hit a plateau. Their rankings are stuck outside the top-10 (in their defence, they have managed to be within top-30), while they struggle to make any meaningful impact in big events on the world tour.
That makes us wonder how and why the rest of the Indians — young or old — have not managed to catch up. That’s a question the Squash Racquet Federation of India (SRFI) and its coaching team should answer earnestly, post introspection, to ensure their sport remains relevant in the coming years.
In the meantime, a big season is round the corner for squash as it features in both the CWG and the Asian Games in Indonesia later this year.
CWG first, and Joshna and Dipika, who won gold in women’s doubles in 2014 Glasgow, are India’s best bet for a medal again, though a title repeat looks unlikely.
On paper, the Joshna-Dipika pairing has a fair chance to do well, but with top-ranked players teaming up for Australia,
England and New Zealand, things won’t be that easy for the defending champions.
The team management, meanwhile, is also hopeful of the mixed doubles combos featuring DipikaGhosal and Joshna-Harinder Pal Sandhu, who will also team up with Ghosal in men’s doubles.
With their form in the last six months not exactly special, Indians are not hopeful of any inroads in singles where the men’s and women’s draws are headed by former World No 1 English players — Nick Matthew and Laura Massaro.
Ghosal, world No 14, is seeded third in the men’s draw which has world No 49 Sandhu as the 14th seed and Vikram Malhotra, who is 58th in the PSA list, is ranked 16th in the CWG draw. World No 16 Joshna is the top Indian in the women’s draw, seeded eighth, while Dipika, world No 20, is ninth. Winner of the doubles gold at the 2014 Glasgow Games, Dipika Pallikal and Joshna Chinappa are expected to once again do the honours for India, but with competition getting tougher over the years, the duo will have to work extra hard for a medal. The 31-year-old is probably playing in his last Commonwealth Games and would hope to at least win a maiden Games medal to go with a gold (team), a silver (individual) and three bronze medals (2 singles, 1 team) he has won at the Asian Games. Though the possibility of a medal in singles is remote, Ghosal — who became the first Indian to reach the quarter-final of the World Championships in 2013 — will try his luck in mixed doubles where he will pair with Dipika
Pallikal. After rising to a highest world ranking of 11 in 2016, Joshna Chinappa has slipped. But on any given day she can forge a potent partnership with Dipika Pallikal in doubles. It bore fruit during the 2014 CWG in Glasgow where the duo won India its maiden Games medal in the sport. The British Junior Open champion in 2005 will also team up with Harinder Pal Sandhu for a shot at the mixed doubles title, though both of them won’t be complaining if they settle for baser medals, given that the level of competition at the Games is very high.
Australia has a special place in Achanta Sharath Kamal’s heart. More than a decade ago, Indian table tennis’ poster boy won two gold at the 2006 Melbourne Games in what was still early days in his career. The event returns Down Under in Gold Coast, and Kamal would be expected to inspire his younger teammates — especially in the wake of Soumyajit Ghosh’s exclusion from the squad over an alleged rape accusation.
World No 71 Kamal will have by his side world No 49 Sathiyan Gnansekaran, Harmeet Desai and Anthony Amalraj. World No 58 Soumyajit was also an experienced hand but his exclusion means that Sanil Shetty may get a chance to represent India in the men’s section.
In the women’s section, world No 66 Manika Batra, Mouma Das , Madhurika Patkar, Pooja Sahasrabudhe) and Sutirtha Mukherjee will be India’s contenders. The 10-member squad is being coached by Italian Massimo Constantini and they have been training in Germany of late.
Indian players have been seeded second behind England in the team event and it speaks volume about the country’s prospects. The absence of powerhouses like China has meant that India almost always put up a good show. However, that was not the case in the 2014 Glasgow edition where India won only one medal — silver in men’s doubles (Kamal and Amalraj). It was a far cry from the three medals (2 gold, 1 bronze) in the 2006 edition and the five medals (1 gold, 1 silver and 3 bronze) in the 2010 edition.
But, this time around the table tennis team is expecting three to four medals. In men’s singles, Sathiyan and Sharath Kamal will be the two players to watch out for. While Sharath Kamal has massive experience on his side, Sathiyan’s recent form has been impressive.
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