Today is World Squash Day. All over India, clubs / associations have been organising activities. Here in Chennai at the ICL squash academy we had a gala event this morning. Over 100 children got together to join hand in the hope that squash gets elected into the Olympics 2016.Plenty of activities on and off court took place - the 100 odd children were divided into 4 groups (Darwish, Gaultier, Shabana & Ashour) where the following activities were conducted including squash singles & doubles, conditioned games for younger groups, swimming & running competitions.
Black Knight sponsors a few players and coaches at the The ICL Academy. We took this opportunity to hand out their equipment.
The Secretary General of the SRFI, Mr. Srivatsan Subramaniam said 'squash is truly a global sport with millions of squash players all over the world. We are all here today to show squash deserves to be in the Olympics'.
Our national champion Saurav Ghosal, currently abroad who is also an Olympic ambassador for squash quoted the following :"It is a day when everyone associated with this great game comes together to celebrate the massive strides that squash has made as a sport in the recent past and to look to the future with a lot of hope. I am sure that many people are aware that squash has been trying very hard to get into the Olympics in 2016. The sport's moment of truth comes next month when the International Olympic Committee (IOC) shortlists the candidate sports from 7 to 2. I am honoured to say that I am one of the Olympic ambassadors for squash. People all over the world are doing their bit to make squash more popular. There are many reasons why the Olympics will do wonders for squash but I am not going into the minute details here.
"All I say is that the Olympics provide athletes from all around the world an opportunity to express themselves on the biggest sporting stage and squash players must not be deprived of that opportunity. Squash is played in almost every country and this is reflected in the professional men's and women's rankings. Additionally, squash courts can be put up at any location in the host city which is a great advertisement for the city's culture and history. I pray and hope that squash makes the cut for the Olympics.
"Winning an Olympic medal for India is my dream and I deserve at least an opportunity to try!
"All my hard work at the ICL academy in Chennai during my formative years and my current pursuit of excellence under Malcolm Willstrop in Pontefract, England will be all worth it if I could win that Olympic gold medal! You can make that dream happen. All you need to do is play that extra game of squash or have that additional conversation on squash and back squash's bid to get into the Olympics. I am sure the IOC will listen to you, the voice of the people!"The SRFI arranged "Squash for 2016" banners to be at iconic locations across India. The Taj Mahal, Agra, the Gate way of India & Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai. Pictures shall follow later.
Squash - anywhere, anytime, anyplace...
With best regards
Cyrus Poncha, National Coach
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