‘Miffed’ with federation, squash coach flies home to leave CWG squad in lurch

New Delhi, March 4 

India’s foreign squash coach Achraf El Karargui has flown back home in mysterious circumstances, raising doubts over his return with less than a month to go for the Commonwealth Games.

The Sports Authority of India (SAI) had extended Karargui’s contract till July 2019 but his move has left medal contenders Joshna Chinappa, Saurav Ghosal and Dipika Pallikal in a spot ahead of next month’s CWG. Joshna and Dipika had won a historic gold in the women’s doubles at the last edition in Glasgow. 

A SAI official confirmed that the Egyptian had left for his country. “It was 10 days ago that he wished to resign due to personal reasons. However, he is expected to continue till the CWG,” the official said.

It has been learnt that the Alexandria-based coach may not even return to guide the team in Gold Coast.

The Egyptian communicated to SAI that he was quitting due to “personal reasons” but his growing differences with the Squash Rackets Federation of India (SRFI) played a big role in his decision.

The final straw was SRFI not allowing Karargui to fly home after attending the Windy City Open in Chicago last month. SRFI wanted the coach to return to India instead of flying to his hometown from Chicago. Upset with the federation’s plan, the coach left for Egypt and chose not to travel to Chicago. Joshna, Ghosal and Dipika had taken part in the Chicago event.

While SRFI office-bearers were unavailable for a comment, a source said Karargui was not allowed to work freely. “His resignation was very much on the cards as he developed serious differences with SRFI over the past six months,” the SRFI source claimed. — PTI