2 squash players bring laurels

Deepankar Sharda

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Chandigarh, April 17

Two city-based squash players – Sehar Nayar and Savir Sood – have been selected to represent India in the upcoming Asian Junior Squash Championship. The championship will be held in Pattaya, Thailand, from June 15 to 19.

Both players appeared for the trials held in Chennai from April 11 to 16 and emerged winners. Sehar (13) will represent the country in the girls’ U-15 category, while Sood will play in the boys’ U-15 event. Sehar is a student of Vivek High School, Sector 38, while Sood is pursuing his studies from Delhi Public School, Sector 40.

Both players train at the Lake Sports Complex under coaches Vikas Nayar and Saurabh Nayar.

“The duo has overcome tough challenges by other players to get selected for the Indian team. The trials are like a professional tournament, wherein all players compete with each other. Players participate in these trials on invitation by the Squash Rackets Federation of India,” said Saurabh, a former international himself.

This will be the second Asian championship to be hosted by the Thailand Squash Rackets Association. The first one can be dated back to 2019, when the 19th Asian Junior Team Championships were held in Pattaya, Thailand.

Proud moment for Saurabh

It will be a proud moment for Saurabh to see Sehar wearing Indian jersey in the Asian Junior Championship. Saurabh had earlier won a bronze medal in the Asian Masters’ Championship in Lahore in 2012 and had reached the quarters in the World Masters Squash Championship in 2014. He had also won a silver medal in the Asian Squash Championship in Dalian, China, 2016. Sehar’s uncle Vikas is also a former international player.

“It will be a proud moment for me as a father and as well as a coach. Both my trainees have taken an important step for uplifting their career. The Junior Asian Championship is an important event to perform and they will definitely face a tough competition. We still have one month to prepare for this championship and will surely put our best effort in the coming days,” said Saurabh.

Sehar had won the 7th Bengal Open Squash Tournament in the girls’ U-13 category, followed by winning the U-13 Sanjay Gupta Memorial National Championship. She finished third in the women’s category in the same tournament. Savir, meanwhile, had finished third in the Bengal Open Squash Tournament and second in the Sanjay Gupta National Squash Tournament.