Joshna Chinappa feels squash’s inclusion at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics is great for the profile of the sport and the support Indian players will get from the government.
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Indian squash star Joshna Chinappa feels squash’s inclusion at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics is great for the profile of the sport and the support Indian players will get from the government.
“We have been trying to get squash into the Olympics for a long time. Finally, its great that we have been able to get squash in. I think it changes the profile of the sport overall because it can lead to government support. Now, there is so much support from the government. We are part of the TOPS scheme and you have JSW and OGQ helping our athletes. We never got that support at CWG, Asian Games or elsewhere. It was just very minimal support.
So this changes the way these kids are approaching training. It makes such a big difference when you have a team with you to travel as well, because I didn’t have that. It keeps you in a positive and motivated environment.,” Joshna said on the sidelines of the Tata Mumbai Marathon 2025 Countdown event.
The veteran lavished high praise on emerging 16-year-old sensation Anahat Singh, who recently won the British Junior Open under-17 title.
“I think she is amazing with what she is doing. She just won the British Junior Open (U-17). That’s a very special achievement. She is doing well on the professional tour as well. She’s only 16 and when I went for the World Team Championship in December, she had some good matches with some of the top 10 players in the world. So there is a lot to be expected from her. I think she is on the right path,” she added.
Joshna also felt the other senior players are doing well too.
” Even the senior men are doing really well. We have Abhay, we have Vela and Ramit, all doing well on the professional tour,” she added.
Comparing Anahat to her early career, Joshna felt there are some similarities.
” I won the U-17 British Junior Open in 2003. Actually, I lost the under-17s six years in a row in the second round until I finally won it. So every year during the Christmas-New Year time, I would win the Scottish Open but the British Open was always the most difficult because all the top Egyptians come there, so its very competitive,” Joshna reminisced.
Joshna felt Indian players should get their ranking points up by playing these major tournaments.
“The only way you do well for India is when you do well in these professional tournaments. This is how you get people to remember you. Play in the PSAs and get your ranking up. I think it’s great that has changed now. These kids have the support today which we never had many, many years back. Sourav (Ghosal) is into coaching now. It gets hard to keep going and its pretty expensive. I’ve trained a lot in Egypt and based myself in Egypt. We need quality coaches here because there is so much talent.”
Joshna also felt marathons are not her cup of team although she she finds the marathon training incredible.
” I have never run a marathon. I personally find it too hard and it’s an incredibly different kind of training as well. Ofcourse, I do run to keep fit for my squash training and all of that. But not like what a marathon runner would do,” she added.
