Velavan’s win, the biggest in Indian junior squash: Cyrus

Even before the final started, the tournament worked its way into the record books to stage an all-Indian final in its 91-year old history when Velavan and Abhay Singh squared up for the clash. Velavan became the second player to win the title after Saurav Ghoshal won in 2004. 

National coach Cyrus Poncha said it was the best thing that could happen in Indian squash scene for now. “The British Open is the ‘Wimbledon’ of squash and in this 2017 edition India had three players finishing in the top-three positions in the boys under 19 category. It can’t get bigger than this,” Poncha said. 

Poncha was elated that a player from the Indian Squash Academy in Chennai, alos known as the Mecca of Squash in India, produced the player who has made the inroads. “On looking back at the junior national results of 2011 – Velavan finished seventh in the U-15 category. It shows his surge in standard as thereon, he won the next five national junior titles in the various age categories. He is special, his fluidity in movement and speed is what sets him apart,” the coach added. 

For Velavan, he was prepared for giving his best in the prestigious tournament. “We had a coaching camp in our academy (in Chennai) before the tournament. We had continuous sessions on agility and fitness for endurance. Since, I was keen on doing well, I played some matches in UK for about one week and that set the tone,” Velavan said. 

The youngster is moving to Columbia University later this year to pursue a degree in economics and the call to represent the university came during the British Junior Open. The Chennai player would be representing the university and it can be safely said India and Chennai’s loss would be Columbia’s gain. 

The Indian squash administration has taken the right steps by recruiting a foreign coach Achraf ElKarargui. The Egyptian, the powerhouse of world squash, has been making slow but steady inroads. “The federation’s great move in bringing in Achraf El Karargui last year has immediately paid dividends. The Egyptian’s way of laying stress in training mentally and physically and more importantly having him in the Indian corner against the Egyptians has proved beneficial,” Poncha said. 

Velavan concurred with his coach’s words and said Achraf’s tactical skills made the difference. “Achraf is friendly and he has the tactical acumen. He understands us personally and works according to our strengths and weakness. He has cleared our blocks over the unbeatable Egyptian players. The results were visible as all of us (Indian players) met a player from Egypt we were able to overcome their resistance,” Velavan added.