Press Reports (1999)

IT ALL BEGAN OVER A CUP OF COFFEE

It all began over a cup of coffee at the Bombay Gymkhana some 24 years ago. Mahendra Sanghi (known to the fraternity as MK), Firdaus Jehangir, D G Rajan, Zareer Cama (presently CEO of HSBC) and JACKIE Divecha discussed the possibility of the Maharashtra State Squash Championships moving to the metropolis from Deolali.

“It was destiny perhaps. The initial conversation was casual and it came as a pleasant surprise to see things happen so quickly,” said Mahendra Sanghi. Hong Kong Bank agreed to be the sponsors and the event found its way from the Temple Hill Club to the Bombay Gymkhana. Mind you, the Deolali club held its place in the annals of Indian Squash. Yusuf Khan had been the professional there for a few years and had helped K K Hazari win the men’s national title.

The initial sponsorship was in the region if Rs.5,000. Today, the winner of the over-35 gets that much. The total stakes for this week’s HSBC event are Rs.2.5 lac making it the richest ever in the history of Indian Squash. Zareer Cama, from his humble beginning, has risen to be the first Indian CEO of the bank.

The Bombay Gymkhana has two new glass back courts with another three in the construction stage.  The Squash Rackets Association of Maharashtra has Khalid Ansari as its president and he has been a past president of the club too. The halcyon days of Anil Nayar and Meherwan Daruvala remain etched in memory. There was one particular final where Old Fox’ Raj Manchanda and most of the gallery disappeared to change for the evening’s reception. Daruvala somehow extracted himself out of this hole and the lesson to the juniors was the opera isn’t over till the fat lady sings.

The preliminary rounds of these years events have just been completed. There were some 370 entries for the various categories. It  shows how the game has changed over the years attracting such numbers from far and wide.

Anil Nair happens to be in town too but he’s not competing this week. “I shall do so in the millennium,” he said. That could be interesting as the event celebrates it’s silver jubilee next year.

THE AUSSIE SQUASH QUEEN MAY HAVE 
QUIT BUT HER MEMORIES WILL REMAIN FOREVER.

MID-DAY                                                                                    Date : 8-11-99

In all, Martin tasted success 55 times at major events with the Commonwealth Games gold thrown in for good measure. Martin family which included brothers Brett and Rodney (world champion in 1991), Michelle won her first WISPA World Tour title in 1990 and has since claimed a world 56 titles (including the Commonwealth Games gold in 1998) in  85 tour finals.

She became world No.1 for the first time in March 1993, holding the position until November 1996, then reclaiming  it in November 1998 until today. “It came to a point when I thought ‘how much longer can I do this?,” she suggested, “I’m not as motivated as I was in the past, so I’m quitting-squash is my life so it is a big decision.”

Compatriot Sarah Fitz-Gerald, her long-time rival and President of WISPA, commented, “Six British Opens in a row and three World Opens – Michelle has been a great champion and ambassador both for the WISPA World Tour and for Australia. Playing her has always been a daunting prospect. We shall miss the challenge,  though  sneakingly be pleased  not to have to face it any more. All of us in WISPA that she will stay involved in our sport and continue to be a great role model.”

Michelle Martin made a comeback when least expected. Her squash world appeared to crumble after a cluster of defeats culminated in her losing the number one slot in November 1996 to Fitz-Gerald who won the World Open that  year and took over the reins.

Martin had ruled the roost since 1992 shortly  after New Zealand’s Susan Devoy bid an emotional farewell to the world  circuit. A winning streak followed and there were some who felt she was as good as her legendary Australian colleague, Heather Mckay.

The  Martin bandwagon rolled menacingly along. Title after  title followed and come November 1996, she was on course fore her fourth successive World Open title. Sarah Fitz-Gerald spoilt the party at Kuala Lumpur.

After four glorious years, it all seemed to go wrong for Michelle. 1997 was a stuttering year. She snatched her fifth British Open title Fitz-Gerald in the final. But the doubts still existed as the former won almost all the major events retained her world number  one position.

Going into 1998, Martin was nearing 31, still young enough to remain a force . The women's were not  great at the start when she when she lost the Cup Olympics final to England’s Sue Write after being two games up. Next stop was the exotic  Red Sea resort of Hurghada for the world Grand Prix Finals. The general Fragile confidence had been shattered.

The Martin tidal wave proved the doubling Thomases wrong Fitz-Gerald was demolished in the final. It was a superbly focused performance  and Martin had come good without the presence of Lionel Robberds, her uncle and mentor who has source of inspiration over the years.

The best was  yet to come. Fitz-Gerald was dismissively cast aside in the 1998 British  Open  final. That year saw her relocate from Sydney to Brisbane Open reunite herself with coaching from her brother Rodney, the 1991 men’s World Open champion. It was as a significant  moves as Rodney helped her think more positively in the competitive environment  of the court and targeted her racket work for which he himself was renowned.

Michelle Martin’s  comeback has taken her career from superb to memorable. She won eight titles in 1998 including the Commonwealth Games women’s gold. But her quest for a fourth world open title eluded her as she missed out  on  seven match-balls and lost 10-9 in the decider to Sarah Fitz-Gerald at Stuttgart.

The  satisfying  feeling of having regained the number  one slot in November 1998 after two rather miserable years was overshadowed  by the memory of that shattering defeat. It would have been the icing on the cake, a perfect finale to what had been a stupendous year for the Sydney sider.

Was this  the end of the road? Far from it, as Michelle Martin bounced back with a vengeance 1999 began with a victor at the Citroen Classic in Parsdorf, Germany. Her 50^th major title was soon to follow at a April’s Al Ahram World Women’s Grand Prix Finals in Hurghada. It had been a touch call but Martin had shown she was equal to the task and left title doubt as to who was the queen of squash.

The winning streak continued at the Australian Open, the Singapore Open the Heliopolis Open, the Al Ahram International  and the Carol   Weymuller Open.

She reached Seattle  for the World Open as a piping hot favorite, but England’s Cassie Champion produced a near spotless performance denying what would have been a fairy-tale ending. She lost to champion again at the US Open.

Michelle Martin returned home to Sydney and felt it was time to bid adieu to a stage she had adorned for so long. Whenever and wherever she played, she was the one to beat.

COURT STAYS SRFI BAN ON JOSHNA

THE MADRAS HIGH COURT HAS SET ASIDE A SIX-MONTH BAN IMPOSED BY SQUASH RACKETS ASSOCIATION OF INDIA ON JOSHNA CHINNAPPA. 

JUSTICE K. GOVINDARAJAN, WHILE ADMITTING THE WRIT FILED BY THE CHENNAI BASED 13 YEAR OLD, GRANTED A STAY OF THE SRFI RESOLUTION WHICH HAS BANNED JOSHNA FROM PARTICIPATING IN ANY COMPETITION IN INDIA AND ABROAD. 

--INDIAN EXPRESS, MUMBAI (7-11-99)

THE COMMANDER OF SQUASH

ASIAN AGE                                                                                 6-11-99

The leader of the communist group had barely moved behind a tree when a staccato of shots rang out from the AK-47 of Muninandy Karuppiah had been specially asked by his supervisors to rush to the dense forest on the outskirts of Malaysia with his six-member unit and flush out the infiltrators.

“It is definitely one of the memorable incidents during my long association with the army. We raided the jungle early morning and besides killing the leader, I also caught hold of another rebel and wrenched the gun out of his hand and flung it away. The raid was so sudden that the rebels left the food and weapons behind,” he added.

The commando leader, who was in the city recently as coach of the Malaysian team for Open Junior  squash champions, horse riding and polo are the most common sports for the army people.

“But,  I had a passion or squash from my childhood and I got  a  feel of the  game after I got  to know Major S. Maniam, who  is now a director of  the Malaysian coaching center.  I was not at all a bad player and was ranked 15^th in the country,” he  revealed.

He feels besides Pakistan, the Southeast Asian countries, namely, Singapore, Malaysia,

Thailand and Bangkok are the Ideal Places for squash. Karuppiah believes people take to the game more of interest than for money and fame. “Golf, racket and football are the more popular sports in Malaysia and corporate houses sponsor most of the tournaments. Yet, there are a lot of squash clubs in Malaysia and their number is the largest in Kuala Lumpur.  The more famous clubs are the MPPJ club and the a club, where you have to wait long just to hit a ball.”

Jalandut Born and  brought  up in Malaysia, Karuppiah stays in kuala  Lumpur  with his wife, a son and two  daughters. He takes  pride in the fact that his country has a sports  academy, (Sekolah Sukan Bukit  Jalil)  which was set up three years  ago with 50/60 students. Has at least 700 to 800 regular students. “Unlike other sport academies, the functioning of our academy is totally different. Here, the major expenses of borne by  the  state government.  Apart from sports, the academy has  a school and  a college.  If a student fails to appear or skips the school examinations, he or she is expelled. Before coming over here, I visited Sri Lanka with my players to play  the  Sri Lanka  Open. But, I could come here with only three boys, Aaron Chee, Mohammed Nefzeian and Nissan, as the others were busy with their examination,” he pointed out.

Jobs are more or less assure for a talented the squash player in Malaysia. According to him, the world men’s junior champion Hong Ben ghee and world women’s champion Nicol David are association with banks, which generally recruits players from all disciplines. Malaysia will host the 2001 world junior squash championships and preparations have been going on in full swing from almost year  ago. Karuppiah  still remembers how  he enjoyed his matches  against  Kenneth  Low , who is now ranked 60 in the world.

Since thousands of dollars had been   spend to stage the Commonwealth Games in Malaysia in 1997, the government is not willing to go in for another big investment right now, except for 2001 world junior squash championships. “Compared to the Commonwealth Games, the expenses for hosting the squash meet will be much less, since we already have the infrastructure.”

Abdul Shaikh Coaching 5-11-99

SQUASH professionals in the city, high on confidence after a 10-day extensive programme under Abdul Shaikh, were awarded the Level I certificate of coaching yesterday.  Shaikh, a reputed squash and badminton coach based in Canada, had flown down specially for the purpose.  The programme, organised jointly by the Squash Racquets Association of Maharashtra (SRAM) and the Indian Squash Professionals (ISP) and sponsored by Air-India, was conducted at the Otters Club and the Cricket Club of India.  

The professionals who successfully completed the Level I programme include: Chandrakant Pawar (The Leela), Santosh More (Otters Club), Anant More (CCI), Gopi Mohite (Bombay Gymkhana), Prakash Yelve (Willingdon Sports Club), Rajesh Sonawane (Willingdon Catholic Gymkhana), Riaz Mohammed (Juhu Centaur), Vijay N Sonawane (Andheri Recreation Centre),
Yakub Shaikh (The Club), Sunil Verma (Jindals/Vashind), Ramesh More (Bombay Gymkhana), Balakrishna Ligam and Uttam Patkar (Willingdon Sports Club), Vijay Sonawane (Otters Club), Sandeep Parab (Catholic Gymkhana), Aijaz Mohammed (The Club). 

Prominent among the senior and junior players who attended the programme include Niraj Shirgaokar, Aditya Manjrekar, Supreet Singh, Karan Bhatti, Karan Pal Sethi, Priyanka Yadav and Rahil Shah.

Ghosal Claims  Grand  Double 
(India Junior Open  Calcutta) 

Frees Press                                                                    Date: 28-10-99

Top seed Abhimanyu Jain of Ajmer also Kept his reputation intact by clinching the title in the under-17 and under-19 categories, getting past his opponents after thrilling five-setter encounters.

Ghosal prevailed over  Malayasia’s kapil Mesan 9-0, 0-9, 6-9, 9-1 to clinch the title  in the under-13 category and then completed a ‘double’ by prevailing over Mohd Nafsiana of Malaysian 9-2, 5-9, 10-8, 9-4 to win the title in the under-15 section.

Top seed Abhimanyu Jain of Ajmer Kept his cool in crucial moments to claim the honor in the under-17 category pipping Aaron Chee 4-9, 9-5, 9-0, 5-9, 9-6 in a battle which lasted nearly 50 minutes.

In the under-19 category final, Jain also had to work hard to tame Mihir Kapoor of Maharashtra with a laborious 9-2, 9-3, 7-9, 4-9, 9-6 victory.

Joshna  bags double, Alisha wins u-11 title

MUMBAI:  India juniors did endingly well in the Sri Lanka Open junior squash tournament held at the Sugathadasa squash Complex, Colombo from October 16 to 19. The juniors won four-days event, according to information reaching here.

Petite Alisha Mashruwala of Mumbai claimed the girls under-11 crown with a9-0, 9-0, 9-1 drubbing of Tamani Jayawardena. She also reached the under-13 final before going down to Sally Loo.

Chennai’s Joshna  Chinappa bagged a creditable double. She won the girls under-15 and 17 titles beating Malaysia’s Lim Yoke  Wah in both finals.

Mumbai’s Nishad Lalwani bagged the boys under-1 title by beating compatriot Jay Bhagat 9-7, 9-6, 9-1 in the final. However Mumbai’s Gautam Kalani Nesan 2-9, 7-9, 9-7, 0-9 in the boys under-13 semifinals, and went on to finish in third place.

Giant Strides On The Fast Lane

EVERY LITTLE kid that picks up a cricket bat and makes it to his first team dreams of playing for India,  The tennis-playing type who barely clears the net posts, wants to win Wimbledon.  But Indian kids who play squash, dream of something like this: play for India till the age of 18, then win a full scholarship to an American university and become software developers or investment bankers or PhD's in microbiology.  Anything, everything, except squash players.  

So when Joshna Chinappa says without blinking, "Playing professional squash  - that's what I'm trying to concentrate on,"  it's more than starling.  Joshna is not yet 13 and had she been playing any other sport, her dreams wouldn't have merited a mention.  In Indian squash, the presence of ambition itself is remarkable.  The sport in India is going no where, the domestic circuit depleted by the downsizing of events and regular migration o teenage players.  The administration remains a bewildering mix of genuine enthusiasm and the pettiest of politics, good intentions and personal bickering.  For an Indian player to want more than a F-1 visa from squash, to in fact decide that there is really no connection between the ability to dead nick a drop shot and an American college degree, merits a silent celebration.   

"There is no point playing squash seriously and then going to a college and studying - that way you're only using the game," Joshna said, putting her world view out on the table.  Those are not empty words because the student from Lady Andal High School, Chennai, has already worked up a lengthy list of achievements in her few years as a competitor.  She will turn 13 only later this month but in 1998 won the under-13 events at the junior nationals in Delhi, the Singapore Junior Open, the Hong Kong Junior Open an the Scottish Open,  Earlier this year, she reached the semifinals of the under-13 event at the British Open and also semi-finals of the women's event at the Nationals (where she lost to Sohini Kumari).  She was part of the Indian team which won a bronze medal at the Asian Junior Open last year.  At the recent Otters Club Junior Open, Joshna won the udner-15 event beating Supriya Balsekar in straight games, her mind only half of the job.  That was because she was thinking about the under-19 final, and the prospect of playing the country's best under-19 final, and the prospect of playing the country's best under-19 player, Deepali Anvekar.  

The powerful, strapping Anvekar won that match in four games but was stretched all the way by an opponent five years her junior.  Joshna plays an attacking brand of squash, and despite the ability to hit the ball to a nagging length down the flans, is not afraid to go for shots, including the most audacious of leaping volley kills.  Her chief weakness? "I need to concentrate harder."  Her wavering intensity was evident in the final against Deepali where, mixed up with the flashy winners, were a clutch of loose points and all the signs of an outbreak of giggles.  But fits of giggles are what being a 13-year-old girl is about.  So what if this one is 5ft 5in and all-round athletics champion in her school: Joshna competes in the 200, 400m, 800m, the high jump and the 4x400 relay, plays table tennis for a lark and is very serious about building the endurance required for squash: 100 sit-ups, skipping to a count of 600 and five laps of the MCC ground. All this apart from knee-crushing, lung-busting exercises involved playing squash itself.

Joshna's  career has until now been guided and supervised by her coffee planter father Anjan, who describes his role as, "coach, friend, philosopher, guide, cook, butler, valet, driver   assistant doctor and whatever else you can think of." Chinappa Sr is a believer of 'double promotion' principle of sport, i.e. being two years ahead of your class. The only way to have a future in sport is to be No.1 amidst peers at least two years older. So far, the Chinappas have the calculations worked correctly. Joshna is top of the under-15 in the country and aims to be National women's champion at the age of 17, which give her four years more of development. Next year she will tackle the under-17s.

"It's not an unreasonable goal," says Anjan, who is a club-level squash player himself.  "With the other players, they probably known the limits of their talent at international level.  The circuit is not fun and games." Joshna received a brief preview of just how serious squash could be during the British Open in January this year.  She played top seed Danielle Bolt, a prodigy trained by the great Jonah Barrington, on Center Court in the Sheffield squash center in front of a capacity British crowd at 6.30 in the evening, including Barrington himself.  Touted the 'Future of British Squash,' Bolt was the overwhelming favourite to win an led 9-2, 4-9, 10-9.

Father and daughter get into an argument about how the fourth game went, until Joshna says, "I was 0-7 down, don't you remember? That's what made the game so interesting." When the match moved from being only about skill to about mental toughness, Joshna turned out the stronger.  She rallied to win fourth game 9-7, and the fifth 9-2.  When the unheralded Indian walked out of the door of the glass back-court, the entire bank of spectators was on its feet.  You could even say Jonah sat up a bit. 
The semi-final line up of the 1999 British Open, the most prestigious tournament in international squash for juniors and seniors, comprised three Egyptians and one Indian: Joshna eventually lost to Ranim El Weli, but learnt valuable lessons about resilience from the match against Bolt, "She has a very good temperament, she's very cool, very level-headed.  Doesn't get ruffled by victory or defeat," her father says.  

Joshna has no particular favorites but watches all the world class squash on TV that she can.  "She looks at Michelle Martin on TV and thinks if she at 33 can be No. 1 in the world, then......" Chinappa leaves the sentence unfinished.  There still is no real depth in Indian women's squash and Joshna's desire to be more than National champion is what will mark her as different from Bhuvaneshwari Kumari, Misha Grewal, Mekhla Subdar, the champions she should succeed.  Whether Joshna Chinappa makes it to the top ten or even the top 50 women in the world is immaterial.  What's important is that she will be the first one who dared to dream and dared to try.  

Rather than being embraced by a Federation grateful for a player with both talent and desire, Joshna has been at the receiving end of some baffling treatment from the Squash Rackets Federation of India (SRFI).  She was a glaring omission from the team which represented India at the world juniors in Antwerp recently, after which there were moves to keep her out of the Otters Club event in Mumbai.

The latest episode involves the SRFI failing to forward her entry for the Australian Open juniors because of her failure to attend a conditioning and assessment camp in Chennai.  The purpose of the camp remains mysterious since Joshna's trip was an individual enterprise, financed entirely by her family.  In all the ugly, personal jousting between the adults in this situation, the talent of a 13-year-old is being compromised.

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