Saurav Ghosal, currently ranked 42nd, the highest Indian on the
Professional Squash Association's list, believes the sports
ministry's step to include squash in the 'priority' category will
help the sport and its players go the distance in the long run.
 "This
is a huge step," the 20-year-old, who was the first Indian to win
the junior British Open in 2004, told the Hindustan Times.
"It's only been a month now and the benefits are yet to trickle down
to the players. But from what I have heard the government will pump
in more money into the sport.
"I will be fibbing if I say players like me don't need the financial
support, but what I think will help the sport in the long run is
more investment at the grassroots level.
"Better infrastructure and easily available courts along with
influencing parents to encourage their children to take squash as a
career will help us compete with countries like Pakistan and
Malaysia. And that will only come when children feel they can earn a
decent living out of squash," Saurav, who's here after winning the
Chennai Open, the second PSA title of
his career, said. Saurav had won the Otters
Open last September.
Having shifted base to Leeds and training under one of the top
coaches in the world, Malcolm Willstrop, since September
2005, Saurav reached a career-high ranking of 40 in April.
"Training under Malcolm has improved my game," said Saurav, who is
doing his Bachelor's degree in Economics and Management at the
University of Leeds. "He does not stress much on fitness. That is
something players have to do on their own. But on the game he has so
much to teach, it's incredible. The focus is on accuracy and ball
control."
 The
year has been a learning experience for Saurav, the first Indian to
win an Asian Games squash medal, a bronze in the
Doha Games last year.
"The Chennai Open is the only low tier tournament I have played this
year," he said. "An improvement in my rankings has helped me get
into better tournaments and given the opportunity to play the top-10
more often.
"Training at Leeds has also helped in a way that nerves are not a
big problem. You get to train with top-10 players like Lee Beachill,
James Willstrop, Ong Beng Hee and now Anthony Ricketts on a daily
basis and the feeling of being overawed has subsided considerably."
Joshna Chinappa too will start training under Willstrop very soon.
"It would be unfair both for me or Joshna to say exactly how it will
help her at the moment. She will need time to adjust first," Saurav
said.
Saurav returns to action with the Rotary
Heliopolis Open in Egypt starting on July 7 against world No 13
Mohamed Abbas of Egypt in the first round.
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Squash becomes a priority
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