NEW DELHI: Joshna Chinappa is actually looking forward to hitting the 40s in a couple of months, around the time when one of Indian squash's finest will become the first from her country to compete in a staggering seven Asian Games.
Joshna has been on the road ever since she was nine years old and decades later she continues to push boundaries of longevity in elite sport.
Remarkably, she feels fitter than ever, thanks to a combination of respecting her ageing body while training and playing roughly five professional events in a calendar year compared to the 10-12 till 2023.
Her 11th PSA title in Japan last year gave her a reassurance that she can still compete with players half her age.
Joshna is proudly part of the golden generation of Indian squash involving Saurav Ghosal and Dipika Pallikal, who don't play on PSA tour anymore.
In an interaction with PTI in the lead up to September-October Asian Games in Japan, Joshna said she has still got a little bit left in the tank that will push her to add to her five medals in the continental event.
She would like to last for the sport's historic Olympic debut in 2028 but at this stage of her career, she takes her life two weeks at a time.
"It would be awesome to play in the Olympics but it is still far away. I've had such a special career. I've had the opportunity to really play at some of the highest stages. And, of course, it's great to play at the Olympics. And that's obviously every athlete's dream.
"I'll be 42 by then. And, of course, squash being so hard on the body, it just depends how my body is. Because, to me, health matters most right now where I'm at. And I do not compromise on that for a medal, for a little bit of glory. I take my career one month at a time, two weeks at a time," said Joshna.
At 73, the former top-10 player remains India's second-highest ranked female after 20th-ranked Anahat Singh, who has taken over the leadership mantle from Joshna and Dipika.
Joshna plays doubles from time to time but predominantly remains a singles specialist.
When it comes to training, she prefers more match play than coaching sessions.
"So in that sense, because there's so much attention to detail for me to get on court, that I just have learned how to maximise getting the best out of my body without punishing it too much. I try and play every three, four weeks; there's more gap between each tournament to really help me recover, rest, train properly and go a lot more prepared."
"I definitely choose my tournament schedule a lot better now. And even in terms of training, I do train like quite a bit during the week, but I make sure I get enough recovery time between sessions. And if my body is not recovered, I don't go to train those days. Okay. So it's really understanding when to push and when to back off," said Joshna.
Squash is a demanding sport both physically and mentally.
There are times when an elite athlete needs a mental push to keep going and in that regard, having a sports psychologist helps enormously.
Joshna has been taking expert help on that front for ages now and is currently working with Israeli mental coach Mon Nimrod Brokman who also deals with elite athletes of other sports including shuttler Lakshya Sen.
"At this stage, you definitely work a lot more on the mental aspect to really stay as calm and focused for each match. I'm playing girls who are like 22, 23, who are fit, fast, strong, incredibly skilful. So it's important to really understand how to play each and every one so that I'm not overdoing it at any point. And I can still recover for the next match.
"I have worked with sports psychologists for a long time now. Athletes are humans too and at times, you need someone with whom you can share the personal stuff you are going through. It has been great working with Mon for the past three years," she said referring to the former commander of Israeli special forces unit.
In the end, Joshna said the current generation of players needs to play more tournaments on the professional tour to gauge where they stand.
Anahat is currently the face of Indian squash and Joshna feels she can go beyond her own lofty achievements.
"She's already proved herself. She has won some pretty big tournaments. She's been consistent. She's, you know, beaten some good players, top players in the world. And yeah, I feel like the only way for her is upwards. And I'm sure she has a long career ahead."
