After taking up squash full-time following his graduation from Cornell University in the USA two years ago, Veer Chotrani has emerged as one of the players to watch out for on the PSA Tour.
The 24-year-old from Mumbai has quietly climbed the PSA rankings ladder to a career-high World No. 40, registering notable wins over top players. Chotrani has now set his sights on winning the Asian Games gold medal in singles, which offers direct qualification for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
“If I win the Asian Games singles gold, I will clinch an Olympics berth. Nobody knows who will play in the individual events (at the Asian Games) because you have the mixed doubles event as well. But if I get a chance to play singles, it will be a pretty good opportunity,” Chotrani told The Hindu.
He also spoke about competing full-time on the PSA Tour, the challenges a professional player faces, and his desire to perform better in Platinum events in the new season.
You are ranked 40th in the world. Are you satisfied with your season?
Yes, it was good. I’ve seen progress in every department of my game. I had some good wins. There were also a few matches where I didn’t get the result, but I feel that my performances against some of the top players were really good. Overall, it was a positive season.
You registered some impressive wins over Abhay Singh and other higher-ranked players this season. Which performances would you consider the highlights?
I beat France’s Baptiste Masotti, who was in the top 20, at the Squash on Fire Open in Washington. That was probably my biggest win… my first victory over a top-20 player. I beat Abhay twice (in the Indian Tour in Mumbai and the World championships in Giza) out of the three times we played each other. I played one of my best matches when I pushed top-10 player Joel Makin (Wales) to five games at the New Zealand Open in Christchurch. Reaching the quarterfinals of the Hamburg Open was great.
These kinds of performances have given me a lot of confidence and motivation to keep pushing. I know that I have the potential to get up there very soon. It’s just a matter of time before I put together a consistent run of good results. Hopefully, that happens next season.
Which are the areas you think you need to work on?
My game has definitely improved, but I still think there is plenty of work to do, especially on the mental and physical aspects. That is what really separates players like me from the top guys. At this level, almost every player has the squash ability to compete at a very high standard. But who is willing to push themselves physically and mentally to the absolute limit to get over the line? That is what separates the top-10 players from those ranked in the 30s and 40s.
That is something I’m working on. The more exposure I got against the top-10 and top-20 players this season, the more I learnt. It gave me a much better understanding of what it takes to compete at the highest level, something I didn’t fully have before this season. Being able to step on court with someone like Makin, who is among the top players in the world and one of the fittest on the Tour, and being able to stay with him and compete was a huge positive for me. In today’s game, the physical and mental sides are everything, so those are areas I really want to focus on.
Do you take advice from your father Manish Chotrani, who is a former National champion?
We only talk squash; we love the sport way too much. It’s our common language. He only wants me to get better every time I’m training or playing a tournament. All the time we’re just discussing what the next step should be. It’s good to have someone at home who keeps a check on me. He is someone who understands me very well. It’s very good to have that kind of sporting, squash mind… someone who can analyse my game very well. He talks to my coach David Palmer and gets feedback from him. Whenever I’m in Mumbai, I’m with my dad on the court. He’s the one who hits with me all the time.
Chotrani feels that there is a healthy rivalry among India’s top-four players.
| Photo Credit:
R. Ravindran
All eight of your PSA titles have come at the Challenger class. Do you think you need to win Copper, Bronze and bigger World Tour events to improve your ranking further, especially with the Asian Games coming up in September-October?
Yes, all of them have been at the Challenger level, but I also made two finals (St. James Expression Open in Springfield, the USA, and the Indian Open, Mumbai) at the World Tour level this season. Obviously, the goal is to start winning World Tour titles, beginning with Copper events. I don’t think that I’m too far away from that level.
There is intense competition for places in the Indian team for the Asian Games. You are the second highest-ranked men’s player behind Abhay. With the rankings getting updated every week, how difficult is it to maintain your position on the tour?
Honestly, I’m not really thinking about the rankings. I just want to focus on my preparation and game. Ramit Tandon (47) and Velavan Senthilkumar (53) and I are extremely close in the standings, while Abhay (24) is ahead of us. But I believe that on any given day, all four of us are capable of beating each other. So, I’m not really thinking too much about all of that.
India now has four men in the world’s top 60…
To be honest, even before COVID-19, we had a few players in the top 50. Saurav Ghosal was obviously far ahead of everyone at that point. We also had players like Ramit in the top 50. Harinderpal Singh Sandhu, Vikram Malhotra and Mahesh Mangaonkar… all of whom broke into the top 50 at different points of their careers. Maybe it wasn’t as consistent then, but Indian squash has definitely had players capable of reaching that level. Right now, we have a very healthy rivalry among the four of us. Going into the Asian Games, there is a huge opportunity for us to defend our team gold. I genuinely think we have a much stronger team and a much better chance than last time.
Who could be India’s toughest opponents at the Asian Games?
Traditionally, it has been Pakistan, Hong Kong and Malaysia. That has been the case for many years, and I don’t think it will change this year either. Based on world rankings, I think we have the most consistent and solid team. That makes a huge difference in terms of depth. Hopefully, we go into the Games as the No. 1 seeded team. After that, it’s all about delivering on the big stage at the right moment.
In the past, you had balanced playing on the PSA Tour with college squash. How has the transition to professional squash been?
It’s been great. I’ve been playing full-time since September 2024. I’ve been competing regularly and performing well on the PSA Tour, which is the reason for my rise in the rankings. I don’t think there was much pressure on me when I started playing full-time. I planned my schedule well so that I had enough flexibility to train and recover. Physically, it wasn’t too taxing, but mentally, it was tougher because of all the travelling — constantly moving from one country to another, flights, hotels and adapting to different conditions.
But honestly, I had zero pressure because I felt I had nothing to lose. It was my first full season, and my only goal was to play good squash and climb as high as possible in the rankings, especially since I hadn’t played many PSA events before. I also wanted to enjoy the experience — travelling to different countries, competing at different venues, in different atmospheres and in front of different crowds. It was a lovely experience, and the exposure I gained in my first season is something I’ll always cherish.
Of course, there were a lot of learnings as well. Last summer, I worked extremely hard on my physical conditioning, and I could clearly see the improvements this season. I know I need to keep doing that consistently every year, and that’s going to remain a major focus for me going forward.
What is your next objective?
I would love to play in the individual event (singles) at the Asian Games. It is not just about winning an Asian Games gold; there is qualification for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, too. I would love to have a shot at that. I also aim to make it to the Platinum events next season. I need to be in the top 35 in the world to be able to get into those events. I’ll be working towards that; I’m not far away.
Is there one eye on the Los Angeles Olympics?
Winning the singles title at the Asian Games is my major goal. If I win gold, I will clinch an Olympics berth. Nobody knows who will play in the individual events (at the Asian Games) because you have the mixed doubles event as well. But if I get a chance to play singles, it will be a pretty good opportunity.
