Squash in India | |
---|---|
Country | India |
Governing body | Squash Rackets Federation of India (SRFI) |
National team(s) | Men Women |
Squash is a popular recreational sport in India and it is gaining popularity as a competitive sport. [1] It is governed by the Squash Rackets Federation of India. The India men's national squash team has participated in three quarter finals of the World Team Squash Championships since 1967.
Dipika Pallikal Karthik, Joshna Chinnappa and Saurav Ghosal are among the top ranked Indian squash players. Dipika was the first Indian woman to break into the top 10 Official Women's Squash World Ranking in 2012. [2] Saurav achieved his career high rank of 10 to become the highest ranked Indian male player in 2019. [3] The current national champion in men's discipline is Saurav Ghosal; in women's, it is Joshna Chinappa. [4]
Squash was introduced to India by the British Armed Forces; the sport has been played before World War I. [5] During the period of British rule, it was largely adopted by British colonies around the world. [6] [7] Most military bases had squash courts built to entertain officers. [5] They can still be found in some army facilities in India. [7] The British Raj restricted the use of the facilities to the upper class of society. [8] Therefore, only those who were from the army or members of private clubs had access to squash in India. [7] [5]
The Squash Rackets Federation of India (SRFI) was formed to oversee squash in India. It conducts training camps, state and national tournaments, and the National Squash Championship. The SRFI is in charge of selecting the squad and coaches for the Indian national team. In 1990, it established the Indian Squash Academy. According to the SRFI, squash is established in only 19 states and 4 union territories. [1]
In December 2012, squash player Dipika Pallikal Karthik achieved a career-best rank of 10. [2] She became the first female squash player to be conferred with the Arjuna Award, India's second highest sporting award, in the year 2012. [9] Later in December 2013, Saurav Ghosal became the first Indian male squash player to reach the top 20 by achieving a career-best rank of 15. [3] He was also awarded the Arjuna Award by the president of India in August 2007.
In December 2014, Dipika Pallikal and Joshna Chinappa defeated Jenny Duncalf and Laura Massaro to claim India's first-ever gold medal in squash at the Commonwealth Games. [10] At the 2014 Asian Games, the Indian men's national team clinched gold; the women's earned their first silver. [11] Saurav Ghosal and Dipika Pallikal, with a silver and bronze respectively in the individual events, signed off with their best medal haul in the Asian Games. The men's team, led by Saurav Ghosal, clinched the historic gold after edging out Malaysia in the individual finals. [12] At the 2014 WSF World Junior Championship, Kush Kumar became the first male squash player from India to reach the semifinal. [13] He made history by winning the first ever bronze medal for India at a World Junior Championship. [14]
At 2015, Velavan Senthilkumar won a bronze medal in the boys singles event in squash at the 2015 Commonwealth Youth Games held in Samoa. [15] Velavan Senthilkumar and Harshit Jawanda won silver in the mixed doubles competition. [16]
In 2016, both the men's and women's national teams won gold at the 2016 South Asian Games in Guwahati. In the men's individual events, Saurav Ghosal and Harinder Pal Sandhu won bronze after losing to arch-rival Pakistan; in the women's event, top seed Joshna Chinappa won gold after defeating her Pakistani rival Sadia Gul. [17]
In 2017, Indian doubles pair Joshna Chinappa and Dipika Pallikal won bronze after losing to English pair Jenny Duncalf and Alison Waters in the semifinals of the WSF World Doubles Squash Championship. [18] In May 2017, Joshna Chinappa became the first Indian to clinch the Asian Squash title after beating compatriot Dipika Pallikal Karthik in the women's final. [19] [20] This tournament was held at Express Avenue shopping mall in an all-glass court set up inside. [21]
During the 2018 Asian Games, Saurav Ghosal, Dipika Pallikal, and Joshna Chinappa won bronze in their respective singles events. [22]
The SRFI conducts tournaments from the National to Junior levels in India. The premier competition that takes place annually is the National Squash Championship. [23] [24] Other major tournaments include Sub Junior National Championship, Junior National Championship, Mumbai Masters Open, and Indian Junior Open. [1] [25]
The National Squash Championship is a seven star ranking event conducted annually. [26] As of February 2020, it has been held 7 time, usually in February or June. [23] [26] Saurav Ghosal and Joshna Chinappa, representing the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, are the current champions, after defeating Abhishek Pradhan and Urwashi Joshi in the finals of the 2020 edition. [4] The total prize money of the edition was ₹12 lakh (US$14,000). [23]
In 2011, the SRFI conducted the WSF World Cup between March 8 and March 12. [27] [28] It was initially scheduled to be held at the ICL-TNSRA Squash Academy, but moved to an all-glass court erected at the Express Avenue mall. [29] The first seed, Egypt won the event by beating the second seed, England. [30]
In 2012, inaugural edition of U-21 World Cup was held in Chennai at the Express Avenue mall. It was supported by the Sports Development of Tamil Nadu. [31] Egypt beat India in finals to win the event. [32]
Some Indian players have found success in the international competitions. As of 2018, 24 Indian players were in PSA's top 500 rankings. Nine were in top 100. [33] Saurav Ghosal became the first Indian male squash player to reach the top 20 after achieving a career best of ranking of 15 in 2013. [3] In women's discipline, Dipika Pallikal became the first Indian woman to reach the top 10 after achieving a career-best of ranking of 10. [2] Former player Bhuvneshwari Kumari held the most national championship titles (16) until 2019, when Joshna Chinappa broke her record. [24]
Highest-ranked Indian players by career high in PSA World Squash Rankings, as of May 2020.
Player Name | Discipline | Best ranking |
---|---|---|
Dipika Karthik | Women's | 10 |
Joshna Chinappa | 10 | |
Saurav Ghosal | Men's | 10 |
Mahesh Mangaonkar | 44 | |
Ramit Tandon | 46 | |
Harinder Pal Sandhu | 47 | |
Vikram Malhotra | 47 | |
Sources: [34] [35] |
Competition | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|
World Doubles Championships | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
Commonwealth Games | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
Asian Games | 3 | 4 | 11 | 18 |
Asian Team Championships | 2 | 6 | 12 | 20 |
Asian Individual Championships | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 |
Total | 9 | 16 | 26 | 51 |
Year | Recipient | Award | Gender |
---|---|---|---|
1961 | K. S. Jain | Arjuna Award | Male |
1969 | Anil Nayar | Arjuna Award | Male |
1979–1980 | Rajkumar Manchanda | Arjuna Award | Male |
1982 | Bhuvneshwari Kumari | Arjuna Award | Female |
1990 | M. R. Dharuvala | Arjuna Award | Male |
1997 | Misha Grewal | Arjuna Award | Female |
2006 | Saurav Ghosal | Arjuna Award | Male |
2012 | Dipika Pallikal | Arjuna Award | Female |
2013 | Joshna Chinappa | Arjuna Award | Female |
2014 | Anaka Alankamony | Arjuna Award | Female |
2004 | Cyrus Poncha | Dronacharya Award | Male |
Joshna Chinappa is an Indian professional squash player. She reached a career-high world ranking of World No. 10 in July 2016. She was the first Indian to win the British Junior Squash Championship title in 2005 in the under-19 category and was also the youngest Indian women's national champion. She is the current record-holder of most national championship wins, with 18 titles. In 2024, she was awarded India's fourth-highest civilian honour, the Padma Shri, by the Government of India.
Cyrus Poncha is an Indian squash administrator and coach. Born in Mumbai, he is currently based out of Chennai, and coaches at the ICL-TNSRA Squash Academy. Presently, he is the Secretary General of Squash Rackets Federation of India. He is a Dronacharya Awardee. He was adjudged Asian Squash Federation Coach of the Year six times. He has coached several squash players such as Joshna Chinappa, Dipika Pallikal Karthik, Saurav Ghoshal and Velavan Senthilkumar.
Saurav Ghosal is a retired professional squash player from India and reached a career-high world ranking of World No. 10 in April 2019. He won the first ever medal in Squash for India at the Commonwealth games. He was the national champion in 2020 by winning the 77th National Squash championship.
Indian Squash Academy is a squash training facility established by the Squash Racquets Federation of India (SRFI) in Chennai, India. The India Cements was one of the sponsors it had initially sponsored the 1990 facility along with the Tamil Nadu Squash Racquets Association (TNSRA). It has trained several squash players such as Saurav Ghosal, Joshna Chinapa, Dipika Pallikal and Manish Chotrani.
Dipika Pallikal is an Indian professional squash player. She is the first Indian to break into the top 10 in the PSA Women's rankings. Pallikal came to prominence in 2011, when she won three WISPA tour titles. She broke into the top 10 in December 2012. Considered as India's top squash player, Pallikal was conferred with the Arjuna Award in 2012 and with Padma Shri in 2014.
Mittal Champions Trust was a trust which supported Indian athletes with world-beating potential. It was funded by Lakshmi Mittal and was initiated by his son-in-law Amit Bhatia.
Laura Jane Massaro is an English retired professional squash player.
The Squash Rackets Federation of India or SRFI is the Indian governmental apex body for the game of squash. It conducts the National Squash Championship, and promotes the game through the state level squash bodies, and provides training facilities and selects the squad for the Indian team. It also chooses coaches for the national team.
The India men's national squash team represents India in international squash team competitions, and is governed by Squash Rackets Federation of India.
The India national women's squash team represents India in international squash team competitions, and is governed by the Squash Rackets Federation of India. Since 2002, India has participated in one quarter final of the World Squash Team Open.
The 2011 Women's Asian Individual Squash Championships is the women's edition of the 2011 Asian Individual Squash Championships, which serves as the individual Asian championship for squash players. The event took place in Penang in Malaysia from 26 to 30 April 2011. Nicol David won her eighth Asian Individual Championships title, defeating Annie Au in the final.
India participated in the 2014 Commonwealth Games at Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom held from 23 July to 3 August 2014.
The Women's doubles event at the 2014 Commonwealth Games was held at the Scotstoun Sports Campus, Glasgow from 29 July to 2 August.
The Mixed doubles event at the 2014 Commonwealth Games was held at the Scotstoun Sports Campus, Glasgow from 29 July to 3 August.
The 2015 Women's Asian Individual Squash Championships is the women's edition of the 2015 Asian Individual Squash Championships, which serves as the individual Asian championship for squash players. The event took place in Kuwait from 1 to 5 May 2015. Nicol David won her ninth Asian Individual Championships title, defeating Annie Au in the final.
India participated in the 2016 South Asian Games in Guwahati and Shillong, India from 5 to 16 February 2016.
The 2017 Women's Asian Individual Squash Championships is the women's edition of the 2017 Asian Individual Squash Championships, which serves as the individual Asian championship for squash players. The event took place at Express Avenue Mall in Chennai from 26 to 30 April 2017. Defending champion Nicol David decided to skip the event. Joshana Chinappa defeated her compatriot Dipika Pallikal to win her first Asian Individual Squash Championship title.
The Mixed doubles Squash event at the 2018 Commonwealth Games was held at the Oxenford Studios, Gold Coast from 10 to 14 April.
Tanvi Khanna is an Indian female professional squash player and is a regular member of the Indian squash team. She is currently ranked 69 in International rankings and is regarded as one of the finest squash players to have emerged from India. She was ranked as women's no.1 squash player in September 2023. She also plays for Columbia Lions squash team which belongs to the Columbia University. She achieved her highest PSA world ranking of 86 in September 2021 and broke into the top 100 for the first time during the 2019-20 PSA World Tour.