She has been a long-time flag-bearer of Indian squash in the international circuit and is celebrating her ninth title win this week, but Joshna Chinappa is far from happy as she feels her contribution has not helped the sport grow in the country.
“It is a sad situation. I don’t see anyone coming up in the near future. Most of the younger players these days play only to get admission in colleges abroad,” Chinappa said on Sunday after returning from Richmond where she stunned former world No.1 Rachael Grinham to win the tournament.
India has not hosted a major tournament since the Punj Lloyd Masters was scrapped in 2011 despite the fact the world body is headed by an Indian — N. Ramachandaran.
“It sounds unreal that no major tournaments are taking place in a country as big as India. The potential is surely there and I hope something can be organised soon,” said Joshna.
Joshna is eyeing a top-12 spot by the end of the year and her top priorities are the CWG and the Asian Games. “The road certainly gets tougher. I need to be consistent and win more matches against top-10 players. Winning a medal each in the CWG and Asiad is definitely the goal this year,” she said.
