A meet up with Saurav Ghosal

Robin Nirwani

The World No. 15 Squash player, who is currently training under Malcolm Willstrop, was in Mumbai to play in the 38^th Maharashtra State Open Senior Squash Championships.  A chat with him on the sidelines of the tournament.

Q: How has been the experience in this tournament after playing 4 back to back matches on a single day?

Saurav: Yeah, playing 4 matches on a single day is not the easiest thing in the world but I guess the organisers are trying to cramp it in so that we can make ourselves available over the shortest span of time. So, I think we have ourselves to blame for it. I am just happy that I won. 

Q: You have moved to England to train. Is it because of lack of good quality coaching for Squash in India that led to that step?

Saurav: I moved to England almost 8 years back. In fact I just moved back to Kolkata this summer but I still go back there quite a bit. It is a fact that I get to train under Malcolm Willstrop who is one of the best coaches in the world. I train with James Willstrop who was world no. 1 for a good part of last year and currently ranked 5 in the world. In terms of training partners, it is a lot better that we have in India. Whatever a professional squash player that I am today is because of the 8 years that I have spent there. Everything I have learned from there and still continue to learn has been very beneficial.

Q: Does it help as a player to have an Indian heading the World Squash Federation? Maybe the chances of having more international tournaments in the country.

Saurav: I don’t think the President has much to do with players on a personal level, I mean that official post. But bringing in more tournaments could happen but unfortunately it hasn’t happened yet. Of course if that post could help to bring some tournaments then it is always good, not just for me but for all the players from India.

Q: What is your next move in terms of participation? Is it celebration time now for Christmas & New Year?

Saurav: I am not playing anything till 3^rd week of January so Harry (Harinder Pal Sandhu) and me are going to Kolkata and we are training there for a week and then I am going on a holiday for about 4-5 days over New Year. Then I am back again training for a week before going to New York. In terms of tournaments it is definitely a light part of the year but in terms of training it is quite heavy.