CHENNAI: The year immediately after an Olympics is usually for promoting youngsters, experimenting and taking stock of the situation. This year, though, is different. With Worlds, Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games in many disciplines, 2022 is going to be another intense slog. That is doubly true in a sport like squash, a sport not at the Olympics. For the likes of Sourav Ghosal and Joshna Chinappa, 2022 is a big year with three elite events lined up including the World Doubles. To try and maximise opportunities, they will finally get to work with foreign coach, Chris Walker, who is based out of New York. He is currently Head of Squash at the River Club there. In an interview with The New Indian Express, Walker spoke about his aspirations for the next 5-6 months or so. Excerpts:
First, how did this opportunity come about?
This goes back a year or so when the job was first advertised. I put in my application and had a couple of conversations with Cyrus (Poncha, secretary-general of Squash Rackets Federation of India) and the federation. Then, Covid screwed things up. It never came to pass. It's a shame that Covid's been here because it's put everything on short notice. It's now a shorter run-up to the events. But I'm excited to get on board and get some things organised so that all of us can be on the same page before the three big three events later in the year (Asian Games, Commonwealth Games and World Doubles).
Have you spoken to the players yet?
Yeah, been in touch with all of them, all the top players anyway. What we do is when the guys are travelling for some of the events, New York is great hub for them to stop at. I'm also going to be coming to Chennai for a few camps and some team trials. When the players are travelling to tournaments... when they are on tour I'm always available in New York. The plan right now is that I will with the team to both Birmingham and Hangzhou.
Some players have their own personal coaches so how will you ensure that there are no clashes... for example Saurav trains with David Palmer...
Not at all a problem. I have total respect for all coaches and their personal relationships. Our job is to make sure we are all aligned. When I was a pro, I had my own coach but there was also a coach with GB. Definitely not a problem as far as I'm concerned.
Your focus areas...
The most important thing is to get the players ready and fired up for the events coming up. That really is the most important part of my job... get the athletes ready and be there for them. Having been player and coach at major events, I think I bring that experience.
Between camps and being at events... as a coach, how do you differentiate?
In tournaments, we try and get ready for matches. Get the players to play their best squash, think about their opponents (look at video and data)... focus on that part. In the camps, it's about hitting a lot of balls, strategy, thinking about new ideas that can be incorporated into their game. Camps are a chance to get together, bond as a team and get some work done.
Will you also be training Indian coaches?
It's not a part of my job description but I'm more than happy to be discussing strategies and ideas. I'm not coming in with some secret recipe, I'm very keen to work with them.