CHENNAI: Velavan Senthil Kumar is smiling ear to ear but his victory in the ongoing ISA Junior Open is not the reason why. The 18-year-old will be part of the senior India team for the first time at the Asian Championships starting next week.
Velavan who made way for the injured Saurav Ghosal is thrilled. The youngster, who started out playing tennis, has been focussing on squash for nine years. “I have been playing for the country for six years but I have a long way to go. The competition out there is really good and there are many players to watch and learn. It’s a good experience,” he said.
It’s funny how Velavan’s squash adventure began. Tennis training would be cancelled from time to time due to various reasons and squash was his parents’ way of keeping the naughty kid out of the house. “It was my parents’ decision to change my sport, but eventually I became interested. They just wanted me to be out of the house because I was really naughty. During rainy days, tennis practice sometimes gets cancelled. They wanted me to go for indoor sports.”
But it looks like the naughty kid inside Velavan is still alive. Asked about his interests outside squash, the U-19 champion revealed his secret obsession with football. “I play football at midnight in a nearby 5’s ground. I sneak out of the house, without my parents’ knowledge. Once they go to sleep, I am free to do what I want,” he said with a devilish grin. The Salem-born player, who completed his schooling last year, is on a break from academics at the moment but cannot describe how helpful his tuition teachers have been. “Getting individual attention was very helpful. If not for them, it would have been difficult to cope with the pressure of playing and balancing studies at the same time.”
Squash, for now, remains Velavan’s main focus. But can the youngster, who dreams of studying business administration abroad one day, continue to prioritise the game over his studies? “Why not? I know that playing squash right now is not financially viable. But even if I have to take time out to complete studies, I will come back to the game after that,” he said.