Squashed between rock 038; a hard place

Total indecisiveness by those who run the Squash Rackets Federation of India SRFI has pushed players in limbo, vis-a-vis the Melbourne Com...

Total indecisiveness by those who run the Squash Rackets Federation of India SRFI has pushed players in limbo, vis-a-vis the Melbourne Commonwealth Games. With the Games around the corner, the Federation has shown total disregard for players8217; sentiments and has not been able to arrange a preparatory camp.

Asked about this, all SRFI secretary N. Ramachandran had to tell The Indian Express on the phone from Chennai was a curt 8220;don8217;t want to talk on this issue.8221;

Incidentally, almost all relevant national federations are going all out to select probables and organise camps in whichever manner they can afford. They also talk about it.

Ironically, despite Indian performances having never touched any respectable level, Ramachandran has been president of the Asian Squash Federation since 2001. All Ramachandran would tell this correspondent was 8220;talk to the national coach.8221;

National coach Cyrus Poncha, a Dronacharya Award winner, when asked about the probables8217; list and the camp, said: 8220;The federation will send a press release, you can see who8217;s who then.8221;

That8217;s why top players of the country are still in the dark on selection matters. If the SRFI does decide to send a team, that is. But this guessing game could have detrimental effects on the performance of the players.

The national coach wasn8217;t forthcoming on the dates of the national camp either. 8220;The camp is likely to commence from the second week of February,8221; he said.

nbsp;	Performances

		nbsp;	8226; The women couldn8217;t improve their 2002 performance at the 2004 Asian meet. Lost their silver and slid to fourth. 8226; The top two men 8212; Ritwik Bhattachaya and Saurav Ghosal 8212; crashed out of the third World Doubles at Melbourne mid-January. 8226; At the world team championship in January-India finished 11th. The Leading Indians MEN Ritwik Bhattarcharya Saurav Ghosal Siddharth Sacheva Gaurav Nandjog WOMEN Joshana Chinappa Mekhala Subedhar Story continues below this ad	nbsp;

The country8217;s top woman player Joshana Chinappa also based in Chennai, from where the federation functions, said: 8220;So far, I haven8217;t received any information regarding selection for Melbourne.8221;

Sources say there is a possibility that the camp might not be held at all. Since some of the top players including Ritwik Bhattarcharya are based abroad, it8217;s not certain they would be attending the camp.

Some say the government might not clear the team because it is not a medal prospect. But that is irrelevant here because the hosts will be paying for Board and lodging, and air fare too! During the Manchester Games, only Ritiwik could participate, because he was based in London. It was convenient for him to reach Manchester. Others were told by the SRFI that they were not medal prospects.