India's Tushar Sahani among Youth Olympics squash ambassadors

A moment of prestigious pride for Indian squash as young Tushar Sahani finds his place in the list revealed by the World Squash Federation of youngsters who will be given the first taste of squash at any edition of the Youth Olympic Games when the competition kicks off in Buenos Aires, Argentina in October. 36 young squash players from 27 nations have been selected to participate in Squash at the Youth Olympics. The sport itself has been included as a "showcase" event and 18 male and 18 female squash players of the Junior category have been selected as ambassadors of the sport having contributed thoroughly or stood out in the recent times. It is a moment of pride for young Sahani who comes off a very good run in the field so far. Just in January, he along with compatriot Neel Joshi had entered the semi finals of the British Junior Open. The tournament itself had been a successful one for the Indian contingent as it must be remembered that Sahani defeated another promising Indian Saksham Choudhary, ranked No 1 in the U17 category at that point of time, to reach the stage. Sahani ultimately lost the Bronze medal match to finish 4th.

Also read:  Cyrus Poncha: The architect of India’s squash empire A runner-up finish in the 2017 Asia Junior Championship in the U17 category and the top spot in the Dutch Junior Open U15 way back in 2015 shows how consistent Sahani has been. Tushar was introduced to the game by his father, a former squash player himself by the name of Kavi Sahani. The World Squash Federation President Jacques Fontaine.sees this program and its inclusion at the Youth Olympics as a positive step in the sport's development. As quoted by SquashSite, he says

“These players, all under-18, will play on the all-glass showcourt at Technopolis Park, meet the young people who will attend and encourage them to try squash at the introductory clinics. Most importantly, they will be our representatives, our ambassadors.

"This is an exciting opportunity for squash to be a part of an Olympic event for the first time - hopefully a stepping stone towards achieving our dream of a place on the Olympic Games Programme.”

The Youth Olympics are scheduled to take place between 7-12 October.