Now Reading: Indian squash booms but ‘I want to be athlete’ still rare
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Indian squash booms but ‘I want to be athlete’ still rare
India's squash scene is at a historic high. Four Indian men, Abhay Singh, Veer Chotrani, Ramit Tandon and Velavan Senthilkumar, have been inside the world top 60 for over a year. In…
The Story in Brief
India's squash scene is at a historic high. Four Indian men, Abhay Singh, Veer Chotrani, Ramit Tandon and Velavan Senthilkumar, have been inside the world top 60 for over a year. In June, 18-year-old Anahat Singh became the first Indian to win the World Junior Squash Championship, ending a 16-year Egyptian monopoly. Squash's inclusion in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics has boosted interest. But Veer Chotrani, Cornell-educated and world No. 38, tells Times of India that the sport still lacks a domestic ecosystem. No top Indian man trains full-time in India because there are not enough strong training partners. The bigger obstacle, he says, is India's academic culture: most families still expect children to become doctors or engineers, not athletes.
The Indian Opinion
The rise of Indian squash is real, but the narrative that Olympic inclusion alone will fix the sport ignores a deeper cultural hurdle. Courts and funding exist, but as Veer Chotrani points out, parents still prize degrees over athletic dreams. Egypt produces champions year after year because their ecosystem trains kids from childhood. India's top four players train abroad for lack of domestic competition. The real test is not how many medals are won tomorrow, but how many 10-year-olds are allowed to chase a squash ball instead of an IIT seat.
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
