SPORTS
The lack of a world-class coach has led to players preparing individually in different parts of the world.
The Squash Racket Federation of India's (SRFI)inability to find a full-time head coach ever since the bitter exit of Egyptian Achraf El Karargui has affected the Indian team's preparations ahead of the Asian Games in Indonesia next month.
The lack of a world-class coach has led to players preparing individually in different parts of the world. A SAI official confirmed to PTI that SRFI did not recommend a single name for the coach's job ever since the departure of Karargui, who quit in March ahead of the Commonwealth Games after being fed up of an "unprofessional" SRFI.
While top players Saurav Ghosal and Joshna Chinappa have been training in England under different coaches with government funding, Dipika Pallikal is off to Egypt to train with former India coach Karargui. Harinder Pal Sandhu has also joined Ghosal at Pontefract, England and they both will be training together before returning home for the Asiad camp in Chennai from August 10.
The top players are used to being on their own while competing on the professional tour but in the case of world and multi-sporting events like the Asian Games, the entire squad is better off training together.
"In an ideal scenario, it would be nice for all of us to train together for team events but that is not possible at the moment. It is really sad that someone of the calibre of Karargui had to go and no one has replaced him yet," India's number one men's player Ghosal said.
"Having said that, my individual training has been going well. I had a fruitful stint with David Palmer (former world number one) in the US and now I am here at Pontefract, which has been my training base ever since I was 18. So, the players who mostly train in India would benefit a lot more from a full-time coach than someone like me,"said Ghosal, who won a team gold and individual silver at the 2014 Incheon edition.
Ghosal also lamented the lack of top-notch coaches in the country including at the SRFI-run Indian Squash Academy (ISA) in Chennai. While there have been suggestions to expand the game in India by taking the ISA to other big cities, the world number 12 said he would rather first address the pressing needs of the sport's hub in Chennai.
"We guys are on the tour for major part of the year, so effectively we don't even need a a full-time coach exclusively for ourselves. It is for the players coming up. A hands-on junior coach is also the need of the hour, someone who is taking care of the budding talent. We just do not have good enough coaches at the moment," said Ghosal.
Cyrus Poncha is the national coach on paper but it is the foreign coach who has always been in charge of things. Poncha and former national champion Bhuvneshwari Kumari will be travelling with the team to Jakarta but players feel they will be of little help and will mostly rely on each other for technical and tactical advice. "I rather ask the senior players for help than the coaches we have at the moment," said a player, requesting anonymity.
Besides Ghosal, Sandhu, Pallikal and Chinappa, the other members of the Asian Games squad are Sunayna Kuruvilla, Tanvi Khanna, Ramit Tandon and Mahesh Mangaonkar. The Ghosal-led Indian men's team had won a maiden gold at Incheon, beating Malaysia while the women settled for a maiden silver after losing to Nicol David's Malaysia. SRFI officials remained unavailable for a comment.
Watch: Australia star inquires Rishabh Pant about his next IPL team, gets 2-word reply
Shah Rukh Khan’s house Mannat was first offered to his industry rival…, but he refused because...
The Visionary Who Promises a Blue Sky for India: Holger Thorsten Schubart’s G20 Climate Speech
The Surge of High-End Living: Luxury Residential Market to Outpace Other Segments
FeFCon 2024 to be Held in Bangalore: A Premier Event on Fever Management
London Airport evacuates passengers over security threat, thousands stranded
The World’s First Innovative Iron Supplement to Combat Iron Deficiency and Anaemia
Meet grandmother who became fashion icon after trying on her granddaughter’s clothes
IND vs AUS: Rishabh Pant joins Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma in elite WTC list, becomes 3rd Indian to...
'All scripted drama...': Puneet Superstar allegedly assaulted by influencers in viral video, watch
Actress Ana de Armas caught kissing Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel’s son in viral photos
Oreshnik's Shadow: Will Russia's hypersonic missile force west to back down?
‘You’re So Beautiful’: World’s tallest woman meets world’s shortest woman over tea, pics go viral
Delhi-NCR Air Pollution: Consequences of GRAP-4 are drastic, may have adverse effects, says SC
Delhi-NCR Air Pollution: Schools likely to stay closed till..., check city-wise update
Maharashtra: 3 killed, 9 hospitalised after gas leak at fertiliser plant in Sangli
THIS farm is selling a cup of coffee for Rs 28000, but there's a twist, it is...
Chhattisgarh: 10 Maoists killed after encounter with security personnel in Sukma
Mukesh Ambani's SUPERHIT plan for Jio users, offers unlimited 5G access for 1 year for just Rs...
IND vs AUS 1st Test: KL Rahul's dismissal sparks DRS controversy in Perth Test
Dense fog, heavy rain predicted in these states till November 25; check here
Oreshnik Hypersonic Missile: Which nations are within its range?
Bihar teacher, principal reach school in drunken state; know what happened next
'I have faced a lot of...': Arjun Kapoor REVEALS his biggest fear amid break up with Malaika Arora
How millions of Indians may get affected due to US indictment of Gautam Adani in bribery case
Amid divorce rumours with Aishwarya Rai, Abhishek Bachchan says 'missing someone is okay but...'
After Bibles, watches and sneakers, Donald Trump is now selling autographed guitars, price is...
Delhi pollution: Air quality improves to ‘very poor’ category, AQI at...
Vladimir Putin's BIG threat, warns he could strike UK with new ballistic missile if...
Shillong Teer Results TODAY November 22, 2024 Live Updates: Check winning numbers here
Somebody misbehaved with Alia Bhatt on Highway sets then Imtiaz Ali had to...
Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal reveals twist behind Rs 200000 job fee, closes application window
Days after Ratan Tata's demise, Tata Group's Rs 131000 crore company inks pact with ADB for...
WATCH: Woman makes Biryani with Parle-G biscuits, viral video fumes internet
Only train in India in which passengers can travel for FREE; check route, timings and more
'Justice for biryani': Parle-G biryani takes internet by storm, video goes viral
DNA TV Show: Why Gautam Adani charged with bribery and fraud in US
IND vs AUS: Records Virat Kohli can break during Border-Gavaskar Trophy
Diljit Dosanjh fans get angry over Ananya Panday's birthday post for her grandmother, here's why
Reddit suffers outage with ‘upstream connect error’ message, says 'currently investigating...'
Border-Gavaskar Trophy: How has Jasprit Bumrah fared in Tests in Australia?