The Hindu : Sport / Squash : Ramachandran elected WSF President

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Sunday, Oct 19, 2008
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Ramachandran elected WSF President

N. Ramachandran

CHENNAI: N. Ramachandran was elected President of the World Squash Federation at the 38th annual general meeting held in Manchester on Saturday.

His only rival Chris Stahl of Malta withdrew his nomination to make it a unanimous decision in favour of the Asian nominee. “We have total faith in him (Ramachandran) to realise the Olympic dream,” said Stahl.

Mr. Ramachandran, who is the Executive Director of India Cements, replaces Pakistan’s squash legend, Jehangir Khan, to reach the pinnacle of a squash administration career that started with his taking over as Secretary-General of the Squash Rackets Federation of India in 1996.

Meticulous planner

A meticulous planner, Mr. Ramachandran, who will turn 60 in a week’s time, left no stone unturned to establish his pet dream of a squash academy in Chennai in 2000. He believed in structured growth, and the ICL Academy, that came up in association with the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu is acknowledged as the core centre for development in the country.

Ever since, squash has grown and results have begun to show. A bronze in the Doha Asiad is the biggest gain thus far. Two British Open junior champions in Joshna Chinappa and Saurav Ghosal have only intensified the focus on the sport which today is on the Union Government’s priority list.

Mr. Ramachandran became the President of the Asian Squash Federation in 2001 and now he has become the World Squash Federation chief when the sport is yearning for an Olympic berth. The 116 countries affiliated to the federation will look to Mr. Ramachandran to ensure that the great dawn for squash materialises.

Mr. Ramachandran’s interests go beyond squash. He is the President of the Indian Triathlon Federation and also a Vice-President in the IOA. — Special Correspondent

Corrections and Clarifications

Two sports reports "Ramachandran elected WSF President" (Early editions, October 19, 2008) and "I feel humbled, says Ramachandran" (October 22, 2008) said that N. Ramachandran [Executive Director of India Cements] has become the first Indian to head a World sports body when he was elected President of the World Squash Federation recently. As pointed out by a reader, he is not the first Indian to head a world sports body. (The error was corrected in the later editions.) -

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