The man who fostered squash in India

However, it is squash that has made Rami the good administrator that he is. Squash was not India’s medal hope at any level 15 years ago but if today it has given champions at least in the junior level and top competitive players, it is only because Chennai has one of the best academies in Asia with excellent training facilities. 

Ramachandran was put in tennis when he was a kid. “Somehow it did not last long. Perhaps it had to do with the weight of the racket or the fact that the squash racket was smaller and lighter, I was lured to squash. At the MCC (Madras Cricket Club) where I used to play, I had the opportunity to further my interest in squash,” says the WSF president. Soon squash became his passion and he watched keenly from the side-lines that players struggled for courts (only a few major clubs had this facility) and to take part in nationals and other events. It was then he decided to get into the squash administration in the 1990s. “Through the TNSRA we moved the State Government via the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu for a piece of land in the Nehru Park. The aim was for a joint venture to set up an academy with all amenities for squash development,” he recalls. 

The Indian Squash Academy was born in 2000 and became a full-fledged training facility. 

But he still needed the men to run the show. “Major Maniam was well known in the coaching field as part of the Asian coaching committee. And he had done much for squash in Malaysia. We needed a man of his calibre here and he readily agreed to come to India,” says Ramachandran. He brought Cyrus Poncha from Mumbai to assist Major. Rami is pleased with the progress ISA has made in the last 15 years. It has produced several national champions and some Asian and British junior champions too.

A gold medal in Asian Games in Incheon was the high point. And what was the high point in his career? “Both, being President of IOA and President of WSF, I consider as landmarks in my career and each has its own issues to be handled in its own way,” explains Ramachandran, whose next goal is to take squash to the Olympic Family.