CCI PSA invites Mumbai to The Only International Squash Tournament in India – 2013

Mumbai-: The city of dreams saw the curtain raiser of the first ever Squash Kunwar pal Singh tournament director, Tushar Mashruwala(squash secretary) Naval Pandole(vice chairman) Ritwik Bhattacharya(psa south east asia president), Abhinav Sinha(founder of Rolling Nicks Academy), Mahesh Mangaonkar Challenger 15, a Squash tournament which would have India’s best squash players competing against the international squash team. This event was organized by Rolling Nicks Squash Academy and sponsored by CCI (Cricket Club of India) and supported by PSA (Professional Squash Association). The evening witnessed India’s renowned squash player, Ritwick Bhattacharya and Mangesh Mangaonkar explain the importance of Squash as a game. Ritwick Bhattacharya stated that, The main motive of Squash Challenger 15 is to make people aware of this sport. Our intention is to promote Squash in a way that people come to watch the world’s top level squash at CCI which would provide a gateway for India to watch and enjoy the tournament and understand the game better. Inviting people for the Squash Challenger 15 tournament from May 06 to May 11 scheduled in The Cricket Club Of India, Mahesh Mangaonkar said, Squash is an interesting game which could grab anybody’s attention.

The sport was lacking international presence in our country. Thus our idea is to have more events and provide exposure to our younger generation. This will help them to take up squash to a higher level and hopefully we will have world champions Mahesh Mangaonkar from our country. India has got talent in abundance and we are trying to make pathway for the youth. These games are free and we have especially arranged the same for public awareness of Squash where we would be competing with international players. Our motive is to increase the popularity of this game in a cricket crazy nation. The future of Squash, the debate over the team participating in the Olympic games, 2020 and whether CCI would host this event every year to make Squash a successful sport were some of the points discussed in the conference attended by Indias top 4 players. Players expected in this tournament are all top 100 level which includes Alan Clyne, currently Worldwide No. 26 in PSA rankings who is the top seed in this tournament. Squash Challenger 15 is the only tournament in 2013 which will have international and national PSA players competing in India. Top 100 Level players are expected in the Squash Challenger 15 tournament. There would be 2 qualifying rounds along with 4 main draw rounds. Thus there would be 16 players in main and qualifying draws which makes it 32 players in total. Harinder Pal Sandhu Squash is a demanding sport which offers the ultimate in physical and mental achievement. Squash is the essence of modern-day sport. It pits man against man, in a 62m2 enclosed court, with only one emerging victor. It is a short, intense duel of skill, brains, agility and athleticism that commands an audience’s attention and keeps them on the edge of their seats like a turbo-charged game of Chess. Played by 20 million people, from 175 different countries, with over 50,000 squash courts worldwide, and 127 national federations. Forbes magazine ranked Squash the No. 1 healthiest sport.

http://www.apnnews.com/cci-psa-invites-mumbai-to-the-only-international-squash-tournament-in-india-2013