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In 1995 her first year in squash at 14 years age, she made the finals of CCI under-19 event and also the Western India Inter School Under 16. The next year Deepali concentrated on her ICSE exams but was back in the limelight on her return in 1997. She made it to the finals of the Under - 19 category of the Maharashtra State, Western India and the Little Masters. Deepali also stood out in the women’s category, reaching the semifinals of the CCI championship. She was adopted by ISP in November 1997. She was given a playing membership of The Leela (courtesy Vivek Nair,V-C & M.D. THE LEELA) and coaching by Chandrakant Pawar. In Jan 1998 she proved her worth by winning the Pix Juniors Squash Championship in the Girls under 19 category & Motilal Sanghi Inter Club championship. She was runners up in Mukesh Babu Squash Satellite, where she lost to the Womens national champion, Mekhala Subedar. She was selected to play for India at the Asians in Kuala Lumpur. She was choosen for the World Junior(under-19) womens tournament at Belguim. Her other achievements are as follows: Steelmade Schools
& Jr. College championship 30-8-98 |
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AFTERNOON 14-12-1997 |
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You’ve had Yanni at the Taj, now you may have squash at the Taj. The idea comes from “Prosquash”, newsletter of the Indian Squash Professionals. And they borrowed it from last year’s Al Ahram Internationals at the floodlit Gaza Pyramids in Egypt. It was a big success; the glass courts drawing 1,500 spectators daily. So, if the Mahindra can swing it, we can shift the thunder dome to the Taj by the Jamuna. Note the picture, looks better than Yanni. |
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| INDIA'S NUMBER TWO SQUASH PLAYER UDAI SINGH WON
THE SINGAPORE NATIONAL SQUASH TITLE BEATNG THE HOST COUNTRY'S TOP PLAYER
LIM JIT WEI IN A FIVE-GAME THRILLER 9-7, 9-6, 5-9, 3-9, 9-3.
IT WAS THE FIRST TIME FOREIGNERS WERE PERMITTED TO PLAY IN THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP. |
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| Times of India (11.3.97) | ||
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The dozen women attending the ISP’s squash clinic under renowned coach Rahmat Khan had a pleasant surprise on Sunday when film star Varsha Usgaonkar turned up for training. They watched in awe as the coach patiently put her through the paces. In no time, Varsha began to stroke the ball after a two-year layoff. She used to play earlier at Juhu Centaur. Varsha echoed the feelings of most of the trainees when she said: “He’s most encouraging, that’s what players want first and foremost.” Karishma Juneja, sister of the twins Rohan and Gaurav, two of the city’s leading juniors, has trained under leading coaches before but thought Rahmat’s way of putting ideas across were better. Jigisha, of Juhu Gymkhana, thought she would never be able to hit the ball hard. She was relieved when Rahmat explained that not so much force but technique was required for doing so. Indeed, Rahmat, in this ten-day camp, is concentrating only on getting the 16 women to reach the fitness levels necessary to reach the ball, and hit harder the three basic strokes – the length, the cross courts and the sidewall shots.“ Master that and you will be able to compete on level terms with any women player in the city,” were Rahmat’s reassuring words for the trainees. As for film star Varsha, Rahmat was reminded here how showbiz stars Sean Connery, Roger Moore, Eddie Grant would have a game of squash at the start of their day in spite of their heavy schedule. |
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| The Times of India (16.2.97) | ||
| The unsung men of Mumbai squash, the professionals, or
markers, never had it so good. In three days they are being taken through
the intricacies by Rahmat Khan, cousin and coach of squash legend Jahangir
Khan during his winning streak of 500 matches, and unrivalled feat in any
sport this century. Rahmat is training some 20 pros who work in gymkhanas
and five-star hotels at the Bombay Gymkhana . On the first day he laid
emphasis on the basics and ball control. On the second day on Friday, he
ensured that they pros had a proper feeling of every coaching routine. He
ensured they could play the shots properly, so essential when showing
others how to play. He then showed the game on with the help of video, the
coaching video he produced with Jahangir Khan. On the final day on Saturday, Rahmat will stress on the psychological aspect and the disciplined approach: how the trainee must play as the coach dictates. He will test how the pros do this when they go on court. Rahmat explains with ease in Hindi as well as English. He finds a lot of talent among the pros but he finds them subdued. " They should be dominant and expressive. The coach has to master on court." The pros like his approach. Some of them had taken part in clinics with Malyasian coach Maj. Maniam and Canada-based Indian coach Abdul Shaikh. "Those two explained theory well but Rahmat is superb in the practical aspect " said Chandrakant Pawar, the leading India pro. Rahmat will next coach a group of women over a ten-day period. Before that he wants to take a look at the junior talent in Asia at the chennai Asian juniors. |
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| Afternoon 11-2-97. | ||
| Rahmat Khan comes from a family
that has dominated the squash world for almost fifty years. In a
fiercely competitive era it is hard to believe that the men from the North
West Frontier have kept up a dynasty of champions. Rahmat Khan, son
of the late Nasrullah, belongs to this tribe and in days gone by, he
played a major role in the success story of Jahangir. The
credentials are there and anybody who knows squash will never doubt
them. Rahmat is soon to embark on a new venture. He wants to
help the Indian players. The endeavours of Mahendra Agarwal, the brain behind the Indian Squash Professional may well bear fruit. Talent and hunger have often been cited as the main ingredients for a champion. But, Rahmat has seen that there is much more needed. There has to be the infrastructure and there always are some officials who are still learning how to spell "squash". Rehmat's coaching video is a classic. It was made with Jahangir when the great man was at his prime. A certain official saw it for the first time and was so dumbfounded that one almost thought he had seen the Locchness Monster. What made Jahangir special? He lived and trained like a monk. The blood and the will, the talent and the training, the strokes and the stamina came in time. It was a single-minded goal: to be the best. It's been the same with almost all the Khans. They went out on court to win. When the door closed, the match was on. If you had a toe-ache and pulled shoestring, they always told you, "Don't come on court and make excuses". Winning became a way of life. Speaking Her Majesty's language came to poor second. There's classic tale of Azam Khan, winner of the British Open three times, beamingly using his stock of fractured English to produce the immortal line after his second triumph, "Mr. Body, Mrs. Body, Every Body, thank you very much!!". Rahmat Khan has seen talent in the metropolis. He's seen life at the top, having coached Jahangir and been ranked at twelve in the world. For Indian squash, his presence here is a welcome boon. A humble beginning is being made this week. But, as Rahmat knows well, there are miles to go before he can sleep. |
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