Aiming to break into the senior category

With the hope of moving to the big league, Yash Fadte wants to bank on his fitness to climb the heights.

AGE: 16

FROM: Vasco, Goa

EDUCATION: Class XII

DISCIPLINE: Squash

MENTOR: Dilip Fadte

FAVOURITE PLAYER: Jehangir Khan

AIM: To win a World Junior Championship title and break into the senior category soon.

BEGINNING: Coming from a family of sportsmen — his father Dilip Fadte and uncle Namdev Fadte are prominent Ranji Trophy players from Goa — he was introduced to squash at the age of seven. After retiring from cricket, his father played squash at the Naval Club in Dabolim and he would accompany him. He took a liking to the sport and pursued it seriously.

In 2009, he travelled to Mumbai for a squash meet at Bombay Gymkhana and finished second. Even now, he travels to Mumbai every week to train at the Cricket Club of India courts.

STRENGTHS: When Yash started playing the game, he had no training partners. So, his father, who is also his coach, had asked him to focus on fitness. And the youngster feels that fitness is his biggest strength.