# James Willstrop named foreign coach for Indian squash team at Asian Games 2026-08-22T02:21:36+00:00 | Sports | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet England's James Willstrop, a former World No.1, has been appointed foreign coach of the Indian senior squash team (men and women) for the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, from September 19 to October 4. The 43-year-old will reach Chennai on September 17 and fly with the team the next day, alongside Indian head coach Harinderpal Singh Sandhu. Cyrus Poncha, Secretary of the Squash Rackets Federation of India, will serve as Technical Delegate for squash at the Games. Top Indian players Abhay Singh and Anahat Singh will train with Willstrop at Pontefract Squash Club in West Yorkshire in a few weeks. India has also won the bid to host the Asian senior individual championships in April-May next year, though the venue is yet to be decided. ## Indian Opinion Analysis The appointment of a former world number one signals India's intent to secure its first Asian Games squash medal. The sport has grown steadily in India after the PSU-backed Squash Rackets Federation increased international exposure for players. Hosting the Asian senior individual championships next year gives India automatic qualification slots and home-court advantage. The federation will now need to finalise a venue, likely a metro with existing glass-court infrastructure, to meet tournament deadlines. ## Coverage - thehindu.com Straight factual report of appointment and bid win, no editorialising This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Tags: Asian Games, Indian squash team, James Willstrop Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/james-willstrop-named-foreign-coach-for-indian-squash-team-at-asian-games/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/james-willstrop-named-foreign-coach-for-indian-squash-team-at-asian-games/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes. How this brief was made: an AI model read the report linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/