How the Chiripal Squash Excellence Programme is shaping the future of Indian squash

As squash prepares to make its Olympic debut at the Los Angeles 2028 Games, the conversation around the sport in India is shifting from producing individual champions to building a sustainable ecosystem that can consistently nurture talent.

While Indian players have made steady progress on the international circuit in recent years, experts believe the next step lies in strengthening grassroots participation, improving access to quality coaching and creating pathways that support athletes throughout their careers.

The Chiripal Squash Excellence Programme is working towards that vision through grassroots initiatives, athlete support, coaching camps and competitive opportunities.

Over the past year, the programme has organised tournaments, development camps and coaching clinics while investing in young talent to contribute to the long-term growth of Indian squash.

Building a stronger foundation

The programme's philosophy extends beyond supporting elite athletes. Instead, it seeks to strengthen every stage of the player pathway, from introducing children to the sport to creating opportunities for high-performance training and international exposure.

Explaining the programme's approach, Promoter of the Chiripal Group, Ronak Chiripal, said expanding participation remains a key priority.

"We're trying to focus on getting more clinics, getting more competitions, getting more coaching at a grassroots level, getting more people to participate and pick up the sport," he said.

                                                 Ronak Chiripal

Over the past year, more than 1,000 athletes have participated in camps, clinics and competitions organised under the initiative.

The programme currently supports seven promising athletes and has conducted multiple grassroots initiatives across Gujarat and beyond, in partnership with the All Gujarat Squash Rackets Association (AGSRA) and the Squash Rackets Federation of India (SRFI).

One of the programme's recent initiatives included bringing former Egyptian professional and coach Andrew Shoukry to India for a high-performance camp.

Egypt has dominated world squash for decades, producing multiple world champions through a robust ecosystem of coaching, infrastructure and competition. Having worked closely with Indian players during the camp, Shoukry believes India has the talent to compete with the world's best.

"The talent is there 100%," Shoukry said. "My experience for the last 10 days exceeded my expectations. The hunger is there, and the perspective of the game has changed so much in the last couple of years."

He added that India has the technical ability to compete with the world's leading nations but requires the right environment and long-term structure to consistently produce world-class players.

Creating an ecosystem for sustained success

Professional squash player and Asian Games medallist Ramit Tandon believes India's progress now depends on strengthening the ecosystem around athletes rather than relying solely on individual brilliance.

"We need to bring foreign talent. We need to bring foreign coaches, and we need to get the best players in the country training and sparring with each other," Tandon said.

He believes grassroots development and high-performance centres must complement one another to create a complete pathway for athletes.

"You can't think you're just going to do grassroots or you're just going to do high performance," he said.

According to Tandon, sustained success requires collaboration between multiple stakeholders, with corporates, federations, coaches and athletes all playing complementary roles.

"Everything is important. You have to see where your strength lies. For a government, it could be something else. For a corporation, it could be something else. For an athlete, it could be something else. Eventually, it's all vertically integrated for the whole ecosystem," he said.

That philosophy is reflected in the Chiripal Squash Excellence Programme, which combines athlete support with grassroots participation, competitive opportunities and access to international coaching expertise.

Through coaching clinics, development camps and knowledge-sharing sessions with international experts, the initiative aims to expose young players to high-performance environments from an early stage.

These initiatives have been organised in partnership with the Squash Rackets Federation of India (SRFI) and the All Gujarat Squash Rackets Association (AGSRA).

Beyond providing a competitive platform for established and emerging players, the tournament reflected the programme's broader vision of increasing competitive opportunities and strengthening the domestic squash ecosystem.

A long-term commitment to the sport

For the Chiripal Group, the objective is to contribute to the long-term growth of Indian squash by helping strengthen the overall ecosystem rather than focusing on short-term outcomes.

"The idea is to create that culture of sports, create that infrastructure and create an ecosystem where more people can participate," said Ronak Chiripal.

He added that the group remains committed to working alongside federations, athletes and other stakeholders to support the sport's long-term development.

"We definitely want to create that difference. Whatever needs to be done, it will have to be done, and it will have to be done over the long term," Chiripal said.

As India prepares for squash's Olympic debut at Los Angeles 2028, initiatives that invest in grassroots development, athlete support and high-performance training are expected to play an increasingly important role in shaping the sport's future.