| SRAM takes Squash to Aurangabad and Solapur | |||
 Mr. Vikas Rastogi(IAS) 4th from left, Yakoob Shaikh along with players from Aurangabad at the SRAM camp. |
After the sucess of SRAM's coaching camp at Sangli in the month of June, a similiar coaching camp was held in Aurangabad and Solapur district in Maharashtra State in the month of July to spread the awareness of this game in Maharashtra. The camp at Aurangabad, which has four squash courts from July 8-15, had 18 squash players particpating. Mr. Vikas Rastogi (chief Executive office) who took the initative for the said camp, said SRAM President Mr. Khalid Ansari, should liaise with the local industries for organising coaching camps on a regular basis and sponsoring tournaments. A good publicity would help getting more and more sponsors. At Solapur the response was good. As many as 43 players joined in Mr. Sanjay Agarwal, CEO said "it is necessary to promote squash in other districts of Maharashtra and I think SRAM has taken this job seriously with both hands and has been sucessful in Sohlapur District". Mr. Khalid Ansari, President of SRAM has plans to have similiar coaching camps and tournaments in Nanded, Satara, Nashik, Ahmednagar and Pune in future. | ||
| A decade of Simply Squash | |||
 Mr. Khalid Ansari (President, SRAM), Raju Chainani, Mahendra Agarwal (Hon. Sec. SRAM) & Farookh Hansotaia (well wisher) at the launching of "Simply Ten" |
'Simply Squash' Asia's popular squash newsletter has completed 10 years. The editor, Raju Chainani, celebrated it by launching his 4th book 'Simply Ten' at Bombay Gymkhana. It was released by Khalid Ansari, president of Squash Racquets Association of Maharashtra. He praised Chainani's dedication and devotion to the game which has seen his magazine grow strength to strength. The special publication is embellished with articles from some of squash's leading writers like Richard Eaton and Colin McQuillan. Squash legends Geoff Hunt and Sarah Fitz-Gerald have penned pieces too. 'Simply Squash' prides itself on the fact that it has covered events in 32 citites from Cairo to Yokohama. Former Mumbai Sherrif Nana Chudasama, squash patron M.K.Sanghi, Vanita Bhandari, Gautam Thakkar, Shrikant Ruparel, SRAM secretary Mahendra Agarwal and the squash fraternity of Mumbai were also present on the occassion. | ||
| Vikram Malhotra holds sway | |||
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Vikram Malhotra had played nine tournaments and won eight titles in the under-11 section. No junior has made such an impact as Vikram and he proved it when winning the Little Masters title at Willingdon Sports Club. It was a joy to watch him beat Vir Sheth, a year younger than him 9-1, 9-0, 9-0 with total ruthlessness. This is what squash is all about. One must not think of letting down one's guard at any time and Malhotra obviously is a big champ in the making. Alisha Mashruwala, also made a similar impression through she lost the under-15 girls final 9-2, 9-1 to Joshna Chinappa. She made brove attempts to pick up the ball from all the corners of the court. One felt sorry for Naishad Lalwani the under-13 final. His opponent Sandeep Jangra was out of breath but he just managed to vary the pace of his returns using the lob, boast and drop to have the upperhand against the lad coached by Rehmat Khan. One hopes Naishad has learnt the lesson of driving the ball most of the time. | ||
| Jangra won 7-9, 9-2, 9-3, 9-5. Delhi lad Gaurav Nandrajog and Calcutta's Saurav Ghosal do not have the type of training opportunities and opponents as the Mumbai lads. So their reaching two finals was creditable. Bikram Uberoi toyed with Nandrajog for the under-19 title. Gaurav bt Ghosal in the under 17 final. And Saurav won the under-15 title beating Vikas Jangra. Of all the juniors Saurav looks the most improved and will be a threat at the Chennai Jr. Nationals. In a battle between Chandrakant Pawar wards, Deepali Anvekar bt Priyanka Yadav in the under-19 final. But that Priyanka could take a game shows she is improving steadily. And beating Supriya Balsekar means she should make the Indian national side in the near future. A pity Joshna did'nt enter this event because her dad feels the draw would be fudged so that she would so that she would meet Deepali in the semis. | |||
