CHENNAI: After the day's play on Tuesday at the Express Avenue Mall, Chennai, the Brazilian team entered the court to practice. As soon as Pedro Mometto walked on to the court, he effortlessly controlled the double-dotted ball with his left foot, lobbed and caught it before beginning his practice serve. It is safe to say that football runs in their blood, just like many Brazilians.
But with a sport like squash, the three Brazilians — Diego Gobbi, Mometto (Men) and teenager Laura Silva (Women) are keen to attract more crowds with their unique style of play in what will be the country's first World Cup appearance in 29 years. After enjoying success in South American and Pan American championships this year, the football-loving nation is keen to make its mark in squash too. On Wednesday, they drew 2-2 against debutants Switzerland, without having their fourth member in the team. Bruna Marchesi missed out on participation due to visa issues.
Style of play
There is always a "style" being pinned onto whatever Brazil does in sport. The exciting and unpredictable "Ginga" style where the likes of Pele, Ronaldinho and Neymar have excelled. The country's fast-flowing style of volleyball makes them a global powerhouse. So, what do they bring in squash? "The Brazilian sauce," says coach and former junior player Renato Gallego.
"It is creative and Brazilian," he began before adding, "We try to be more creative players, be more tactical players. Laura Diego and Pedro are strong with their basics and are very creative players," he explained.
Gobbi, who is known as "the gladiator," tried to bring parallels between the styles the country tends to adopt in other sports. "Sometimes the ball can get really warm and bouncy in Brazil. This means we cannot do much with the ball, so we learn how to treat the ball, touch the ball. In tough conditions, we try to develop some skills. Then, when we play in an environment with AC, the ball is cold and we can manoeuvre the ball, which becomes easy for us. That is our kind of Samba and Ginga in squash," the World No. 86 explained.
Such ideas were on show on their first match on Wednesday. Despite playing in different conditions to the ones back home, Gobbi stuck to his aggressive style of play while adapting to the conditions in his win against Louai Hafez. Mometto, in his match against Robin Gadola, seemed to embrace the ball and used that to his favour.
Squash in Brazil
With sports like football, volleyball and athletics capturing most of the people's imagination, squash remains overshadowed. That may change, with the sport finally included for the LA 2028 Olympics.
Gallego explained the dynamics of squash, the financial backing it received and the growth from the last 10 years. "From zero, the investment went up to 3.8 million Brazilian Real (`6.2 crore) post the inclusion to the Olympics. One of the efforts taken in the country to promote squash is to take it to the "favelas" — a Portuguese term for slums. "Squashinhos" is an urban squash and education programme which is currently being implemented in Rio de Janeiro for the past six years. "We have 150 kids from the favela. They have squash sessions, mathematics, and English. They are provided with all the support for their life," Gallego added.
Gobbi, who hails from Sao Paulo, felt that the game should spread more in lower-income areas in the country. Hailing from a middle-class family in the city, he was introduced to squash by his brother, who worked in the sport. "I wanted to see more poor people having a connection and contact with squash. I feel that we could bring even more kids playing and have more talent. (If) at least 100,000 kids, 3 or 10 of them making it to the highest level will be great," he explained
