A complimentary Squash Clinic was conducted at NDA from 31st August to 4th September 2015 which was organised by SRAM in association with ISP. The objective of the squash clinic was to test the 250 cadets in the first year of NDA and to identify top players from these, who could be then referred to advance coaching with the objective of reaching and winning at Indian National Squash Tournaments within the next 2 to 3 years. Puneet Pareek (Head Coach), Nilesh Pal, Azad Singh and Vishal Yadav Indian National Squash Tournament players who are seeded amongst the top 16 players in their respective categories in the cournty were the coaches involved in conducting this camp.

Mr Sethi showed his concern over the poor performance of all the games in Gujrat.  He said while the Gujrati community is doing commercially very well all over the world there are hardly any sportsman who have excelled in sports.  The State Government should do something for the minority games like Squash, Billiards etc.  

Mahendra Agarwal congratulated Mr. Narendra Gour for taking an effort to form a Association and also organising the first ever Gujrat Open, which will go down in the history of Squash in Gujrat in times to come. 

Mr. Narendra Gour said he was very happy to see 40 squash players participating in it.  But he wants younger generation to take over this game for which he will invite coaches from Mumbai to train them all over the year.  

The final results :

Former 14 times Professional National Champion Shyamlal Verma  and  Chandrakant Pawar were presented with ISP Life Time Achievement Award at a function here on Thursday night which was graced by World Squash Federation's Emeritus and Malaysian Crown Prince, Tunku Imran. Mid-day also presented their Life Time Achievement Award to former National Champions Anil Nayar, Adrin Ezra, and Meherwan Daruwala. 

Mekhala Subedar, the two time national champion, was also presented by a special appreciation award by MID-DAY

The victorious Maharashtra team, consisting of Niraj Shirgaokar, Parth Doshi, Saket Wali, Awisch Jayaswal, Akhil Behl, Manish Choitrani & their coach Anant Nayak were given a cheque of Rs 50000/= by Tariq Ansari, MID-DAY's Managing Director.

The party was hosted by Mr. Khalid Ansari (President, SRAM) at the lawn of his residence & was attended by past, present and future of Mumbai's squash fraternity and prominent businessmen, industrialists, professionals, media persons. 

THE galaxy of squash stars at the reception hosted by MID-DAY chairman and Squash Racquets Association of Maharashtra (SRAM) president Khalid A-H Ansari and Rukya Ansari on a balmy evening last week on the resplendent lawns of their residence almost outshone those in the firmament.

The chief guest was His Royal Highness Tunku Imran, Prince of Malaysia, who was accompanied by Datuk Vinod Shekhar of Kuala Lumpur. Present on the occasion were luminaries past, present and future – from the close-knit Mumbai squash fraternity and prominent industrialists, businessmen, professionals and media persons.

Wishing the SRAM success in its various new projects and congratulating the award winners. Tunku Imran revealed plans of a joint undertaking with the MID-DAY group under which squash and cricket juniors from Malaysia and Mumbai will exchange visits for experience, exposure and, more importantly, cultural interaction.

Khalid A-H Ansari introduced members of the new SRAM executive committee and spoke of its plans to broad base the game of squash, now an elitist sport restricted to clubs, by making existing facilities available to school and college students initially and, in the second phase, build public pay-and-play squash courts in the city. He stated that three clubs have already offered use of their courts for coaching and tournaments.

Appealing to the corporate sector for help, Ansari stated that the Mumbai police had shown interest in introducing the sport to its cadres. He also said that the Indian Squash Professionals (ISP) had become a affiliate of SRAM. He requested all concerned to sink their differences and join hands in promoting the sport.

Indian squash greats Anil Nayar, Adrian Ezra and Meherwan Daruwala were honoured with MID-DAY lifetime achievement awards. Anil Nayar, who resides in New York, could not be present but London-based Ezra and Daruwala, who was in Baroda, reached the function in the nick of time.

Indian Squash Professionals presented lifetime achievement awards to outstanding veterans. Shivamlal Verma and Chandrakant Pawar.

Simply Squash, the international magazine published by Raju Chainani presented the Tunku Imran Award to world junior champion Ong Beng Hee who was celebrating his 19^th birthday.

MID-DAY managing director Tariq Ansari handed over a cheque of Rs 50,000 which it had offered as incentive of the inter-state championship winning Maharashtra squad consisting of Niraj Shirgaokar (captian), Manish Chotrani, Parth Doshi, Avisch Jaiswal, Saket Wali, coach-cum-manager Ananth Nayak and Akhil Bhel. 

The last-named who is presently a student in the US could not attend. MID-DAY also presented a special appreciation award to two-time national women’s champion Mekhala Subedar.

SQUASH has finally found its place on the sporting map. The government of Maharashtra has at last recognized the sport following the joint efforts of the Squash Racquets Association of Maharashtra (SRAM) and the Indian Squash Professional (ISP).

With the recognition of squash in the state, players and coaches in Maharashtra will now be eligible for the prestigious Shiv Chhatrapati Award and  Dadojee Konddeo Award respectively. SRAM will also receive a grant from the state government.

Squash’s red letter day came about following the efforts of SRAM President,  Mr. Khalid A.H. Ansari and Hon Secretary  Mr. Mahendra Agarwal, who also is the director of ISP.

The SRAM and ISP had been approaching the authorities for the past three years and succeeded after meeting with various ministers and IAS officers.

Apart from coaching camps, clinics and adoption of players under the auspices of the SRAM, ISP has conducted 34 squash tournaments in the city and other parts of  the state so far, which has given the sport a major shot in the arm. Tournaments and coaching programmes are being conducted not only in Mumbai but also in rural areas like Kolhapur, Sangli, Solapur and Satara.

SRAM  has already conducted a 10-day coaching programme in Sangli, while a week-long coaching clinic is scheduled to be held at Solapur in July. Satara too will soon have its own squash court, which has been sanctioned by the Collector.

In its quest to encourage squash at the grass root level, the SRAM held a host of tournaments for juniors significant among them being the successful Air India tourney. Besides, the SRAM recently organized a fortnight-long tour to Malaysia as part of an exchange programme, where some of Maharashtra’s top juniors honed their skills in Kuala Lumpur under Malaysian coach K.H.ONG, father of World Junior No 1, Ong Beng Hee.

The recognition of squash in Maharashtra has also coincided with the state’s rich haul of honours at the National Championships recently. It was a significant year for the state and the SRAM where Manish Chotrani won the men’s crown after dethroning Ritwik Bhattacharya of West Bengal, Mekhla Subedar bagged the women’s title, Deepali Anwekar the girls’ under-19 title and Bikram Uberoi the boys’ under-19 crown.

“It’s been a long wait for us, but it has been worth it,” said a delighted Mr. Khalid Ansari, president, SRAM. “It is a small step towards bigger goals, I’m sure. With this new found status, we at the SRAM can only hope to grow. As always, we will strive harder to work for the sport and the players especially the young ones.”

Mr. Ansari added: “Now that the (financial) grant will come from the government we at the SRAM can realize most of  our goals which include constructing as many squash courts as possible and organizing coaching schemes. We are very keen to construct public courts so that squash can be played at the grass root level. We do not wish it to be an elitist sport. Besides, we have many sponsors and supporters like Mr. Ranjan  Sanghi, Mr. Mahendra Sanghi, Mr. Gautam Thakkar, Mr. Srikant Ruparel and Mr. Mahendra Agarwal of ISP.”

Said Mr. Narendra Gour, director, ISP: “The recognition of squash in Maharashtra has been a fitting reward for our labour of love. It was only with the support of so many well wishers of the sport that we have reached this far. Frankly, ISP will not stand to benefit. Rather, we only did our bit for the love of squash. Yes, during our long journey started in December 1996, when the Governement was not even aware regarding the game of squash.  In the first correspondence they had replied to ISP, asking what is squash? Do we have any committee in Maharashtra for Squash? Who is the President?"

Said Mr. Mahendra Agarwal "We were aided by so many people including former director of sports, Mr. Ashwini Kumar, former sports secretary, Mr. Suresh Salvi, minister of state for youth affairs and sport, Mr. Anil Deshmukh, Mr. Ramkrishna More (minister, youth affairs and sport) and Mr. Bhushan Gagrani, who is the secretary to the chief minister.”

Rehmat Khan : clip off the old block
(Article in 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.