CHENNAI: "I spent more time at the academy than I have at home."
This seems to be a common refrain among players, coaches and all those associated with the hallowed precincts of the Indian Squash Academy. There are numerous fables associated with the academy but nothing beats the one that most players chant with grace and equanimity. This academy is part of their lives.
Speak with Abhay Singh, the latest from the squash's famed cradle, or with someone who has spent years here growing up as a player and now a coach Harinder Pal Sandhu or someone like Velavan Senthilkumar. Or Joshna Chinappa. They will all say in unison: "The Academy is our home".
Even coaches share the same emotions. Take for instance Major Maniam. He had come here for a few years to coach and ended up leaving after 16 years. Not to speak of coach and now Squash Rackets Federation of India (SRFI) secretary Cyrus Poncha, "I wanted to try for a year," he says. He is still here in Chennai.
Located near the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu's Nehru Park ground here, it was N Ramachandram, who was the key figure in laying the foundations of the academy. Squash was not even a lexicon in the Indian sporting ecosystem. Twenty-five years on — the academy recently celebrated its silver jubilee — it has gone on to become a game-changer, helping the country produce many champions over the years.
Rami's pursuit of Maniam
Building the academy was a big shot in the arm but Ramachandran's work was far from over. The academy needed leaders to help the trainees. Enter Maniam from Malaysia, one of the prominent forces that lifted the academy.
Maniam, who has served in the military, was before a national champion in the 70s. After taking up full-time coaching in the 80s, Maniam had groomed the likes of eight-time world champion and former World No 1 Nicol David and former World No 7 Ong Beng Hee. Maniam recalled how Ramachandran, after several talks, finally convinced him to join the brigade.
So the story goes like this. "I happened to be taking our women's team to Guernsey for a World Women's Championship (in 1994). At the WSF AGM, I met Mr. Ramachandran. I was coming out of the lobby after the meeting and all the teams were given a courtesy car. I was driving the car and Rami was waiting for the transport that picks up all the delegates to take them back to the hotel. I saw him and asked, 'would you like a ride'? We were staying in different places.
"He got into the car and the first thing he asked me, "Tamil pesuvingla (Do you speak Tamil), and then we started talking and he was saying how he's planning to do this, that and here and then he said, you must come and do something for us."
"I said, 'Rami, you know, I've been here for more than 15 years in Malaysian squash and they're doing well. I don't think they would let me go, you know'. Every time he met me in any event, he would say, 'you know, when you want to come'. He kept at it for the next two years. So, in 2002, he was planning to expand the squash court as it was under some construction. "He said, 'I'm going to do something. Why don't you come and have a look?' I was in Malaysia at that time. I said, 'Rami, you know, I will. Of course, I will come. One fine day, I'll come'. He said, 'no, no, you're coming this weekend'."
That weekend trip, little did Maniam's family knew would begin their life in India, which would span out for 14 years. "To cut a long story short, I sort of semi-accepted it. I said, I need to go back, I need to check everything. So, when I went back, I discussed it with a few people who sort of accepted it," he said.
After clearances from the Squash Racquets Association of Malaysia, Maniam descended to Chennai in June 2002. He took over as consultant coach, with present SRFI general secretary Cyrus Poncha as the national coach then .
"In the early stages, when I talked to the players, they would sit down there and talk and I didn't like all of that. I'll just make them sit there and talk. And we sort of began to understand each other," Manian, who spent 14 years at the academy, recalled.
"Ramachandran, Cyrus and Srivatsa Subramanian, these are three people who were key and Rajiv Reddy. These four people were key in my successes here. Whether it was personal matters or professional matters, they were always there. I always, they were my bouncing boards. I could reflect on whatever I had with them and discuss and implement. So that is the other thing. Support system that I had here was excellent. So I learned to have such respect and friends around me who I could be. It wasn't me alone running the show."
Since his time away from ISA, Maniam felt that the players from the academy has gone on to raise the bar. "The first thing that happened, I think I left in June. And in January the following year, within six months, you had the three boys winning the British Junior Open. Abhay (Singh), Velavan (Senthilkumar) and (Aditya) Raghavan. One, two, three. That is history. And I don't remember any country doing that. So that shows that the programme left behind and the new team has continued doing the job. Cyrus (Poncha) has really taken on the reins and kept it going. I still see a lot of what I left behind being implemented and promoted," he said.
It's not a surprise that ISA occupies a special space in his heart. "The 14 years I spent here was a very important and crucial moment in my life besides SRAM. So I would put ISA very close to my heart in my squash career. Malaysia comes first because that's where I played, I became champion, I brought in champions. Second in line, very close, is ISA. So ISA will always be there. I cannot take ISA out of my system in squash. If you talk about squash, ISA has to be there," he said.
How Poncha's life changed
Having excelled in the junior circuit, Cyrus Poncha, born and brought up in Mumbai, was given a call by Ramachandran, initially to lead a camp for a month from December 2001 and January 2002.
"I came for one month, attended that coaching camp with the players, went back home. A few months later in March or April, he again called me and said, 'would you like to shift to Chennai?'. So to me, it was, okay, maybe, I've no idea what it's going to be, but I've got one opportunity, let me go and try for a year, not knowing what's in store and now 24 years-plus is what I've been here."
"When I came, in the first year, all was very good. Within the year, we planned, he (Ramachandran) planned, so I had absolutely nothing to do with it, it was his foresight. I was 25 at that time. So for a young boy to come and help and assist.... then they did the masterstroke of getting Major Maniam. So for me, I've suddenly got one guru over here and it was so good working under Major, learning from him, so for me, that kept getting better. Also at that time, our players were just regular players around the world, then you straight away started seeing (results), Saurav won the British junior championship, again, something that had never happened before. Then Joshna came to train, then you had Dipika, who joined the academy and it just kept getting better and players started winning. So it was unbelievable (...). What Major did for the academy, we really took up one level, but it didn't stay there, because players came and trained, other coaches came and learned from him, he was conducting coaching courses around the country, so the whole of Indian squash elevated because of that."
Rajiv Reddy, who was SRFI's patron and director of referees, has witnessed similar stories. He recollected the time when he did the groundwork to get children from the city to play the game via schools. "I personally have gone to so many schools in Chennai and talked to PT masters, physical directors, principals, (saying,) 'please send them, put a circular there because they don't know what squash is.' And so the first time, if you are a member of a club to have access to a squash court, this is the first time where you got a public place where you just play and play and you got dedicated coaches. So I knew this is going to take off and rightly enough that we have got all the medals possible from Asian Championships, World Championships, World Doubles, Communal Games, Asian Games," he said.
Transforming lives
According to Poncha, Ramachandran's vision in beginning this academy was to bring squash to the streets. Although most of the players seem to hail from well-settled families, Kush, a world junior medallist, is an exception. "He came to Chennai from Dhampur in UP. When we actually tried to get him an admission in school, they asked him, 'how many sides are there in a triangle?' In his seventh standard, he was not sure... We said, 'he's coming to play, he'll be a good reputation for school'. He got into school, he did well, became our world junior bronze medallist in 2012 or it was 2014, he was a bronze medallist in the world junior championships, now that gave him a platform, he got admission into a college in the US, now today he's working in the US in finance. That's what squash has given to him," said Poncha.
Former World No 10 Joshna was one of the first few players to walk into the ISA, aged 14 years old. It goes without saying the academy has been integral in her success. "The academy is my home. I train there a lot — it’s a place where I've improved tremendously. The coaches I've worked with over the last 20 years from the academy have played a huge role in where I am today in my career, along with the support from the Tamil Nadu government and the Tamil Nadu Squash Racquets Association. I think I was fortunate to have access to a facility like this early in my career. I've trained abroad quite a bit, but Chennai was always my home base," she said.
Joshna was appreciative of the structure laid by her former coaches in shaping her as a person. "That played a huge role in making me disciplined. It gave me a place to go where the training timings were fixed. We had group sessions at specific times, which gave structure to my week and helped me balance school and training. Of course, it has played a huge role in where I am today."
Grateful to be one of ISA's sons: Abhay
India's No 1 men's squash player Abhay elucidated how his life changed after his admission to the ISA. "I remember my first day at the academy, I met Cyrus sir there. And it's been a great journey. I think just everything the institution has provided me with, it's been like, it's been home.
"I think I spend more time at the academy than I do in my own house at this point. I'm so grateful and honoured to be, you know, a child of ISA, just one of their sons, if you might call it. And I just want to thank Ramachandran sir. There's something magical about this place and what it brings out in players from Indian squash," he said.
The 26-year-old ranks his time at the academy as his best so far. "It was ISA on Day One and it's till date. ISA on day one, ISA till the day I die. Like it's not going to be any other place. It's not emotional as of now, because I think you're living in the moment, but I think when I call it a day and you know, I walk into the sunset and I look back at how much of my personality and how much of my, me is attached to that place. I know I'll always have a home there. But as of now, you know, it's still an institution that's helping me become one of the best players India has ever produced."
For Senthilkumar, whose journey at the academy began around 2007, the monthly medals and healthy competition are something that he looks forward to.
"In the juniors growing up, I've spent so much time there, we had an amazing group. I would have so many different friends and I've had so many memories in terms of playing the monthly medal. Every Saturday, we'd play some doubles apart from the training as well. Apart from all the fun stuff, we would train, it was very helpful for me to have a lot of players there growing up because you know I would always look up to them, train with them, you know play against them, it used to motivate me a lot to play well and perform and train as hard as all of the other players, it was always there was a lot of healthy competition," he said.
His vision for the next 25 years for the academy is to have continued success. "I would want the ISA to probably achieve more milestones. For example, like the event here at Chennai, the World Cup is a huge inspiring point for all the young kids, who want to get into the sport. Like 25 years from now, I would want the reach to be like threefold or even fourfold from how it is now."
Boasting two complexes with eight courts — one with three glass back rainbow courts and another with four glass back rainbow courts, the venue has also hosted some marquee events. The facility hosted the World Men's Team Squash Championship in 2007, in addition to hosting World and Asian junior events.
Chinappa, Dipika Pallikal, Ghoshal, Kush and the duo of Abhay and Velavan — several elite-level players have spent countless sessions at the academy, going on to stamp their mark at the world level.