CHENNAI: On an evening to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the charmed and fabled Indian Squash Academy, attention shifted to the man who envisioned the existence of such a behemoth. N Ramachandran was sitting quietly as those assembled, including dignitaries, spoke of his contribution while building the academy that has produced international stars who has gone on to win first Asian, Commonwealth Games medals including gold.
There are numerous other firsts but the legends of the game like Saurav Ghosal, Joshna Chinappa, Dipika Pallikal began their golden strides on the hallowed precincts of this academy.
Former president of Indian Olympic Association and Squash Rackets Federation of India Ramachandran, despite not being in the best shape, kept smiling and nodding. His movements seemed laborious but spirit was high as he spoke about the academy. During his speech, delivered by his son Rahul on his behalf, he spoke about how he managed to get the land with the help of the then TN Chief Minister M Karunanidhi and former member secretary of Sports Development of Authority of TN PWC Davidar in 2000.
"Our first coach was Hari Om Tripathi, who laid the foundation for the coaching programme," said Ramchandran. "He was followed by Cyrus Poncha in 2001, who moved from Mumbai to take up the assignment. Then in 2002, Major Maniam joined us from Malaysia and brought structure, science and professionalism to our training systems. Major Maniam stayed with the academy and program for 16 years."
"Over time, players and coaches nurtured through this system helped squash reach every corner of India. By 2019, we had a vibrant national circuit with over 50 tournaments a year, a reflection of the sport's growth and reach," said the former SRFI chief.
"Today, as we mark 25 years, I am proud to say that players from this academy have together won about 100 national and international titles across junior and senior categories. Since 2010, India has consistently won medals at the Asian Games and from that same year onwards, we have stood on the podium at every Commonwealth Games. In 2017, we made history at the British Junior Open with an unprecedented 1-2-3 finish, Velavan Senthilkumar, Abhay Singh and Adhitya Raghavan."
Such has been Ramachandran's influence in the global squash community that the World Squash (WSF) has decided to make him the first honorary life member. Zena Wooldridge, the WSF chief, quite succinctly put it while delivering her speech. "Chennai is a city that I visited more often than most in the world...I think over the period of 20 years, we've conducted more world championships here in Chennai than anywhere else in the world. And that's due to Rami's (Ramachandran's) kind hospitality and his invitations," she said.
"Since he was elected president of World Squash, I've watched the generosity of Rami and the commitment that he's made. His commitment to getting squash into the Olympics is just absolutely unsurpassed... the amount of air miles he clocked up at his own expense and his own time to try to get it into the Olympics."