In a first in Indian squash, National coach Harinderpal dons player’s hat

Since taking over as the coach of the Indian senior squash teams in September last year, Harinderpal Singh Sandhu has been busy designing training camps for the country’s top players and mentoring them.

But the 37-year-old has put the player’s hat on again, partnering youngster Om Semwal in the men’s section of the National doubles championships here. It is the first time in Indian squash history that a National team head coach is competing in an open National event.

Cyrus Poncha, secretary of the Squash Rackets Federation of India, said there was nothing wrong with Harinder’s involvement as a player in the tournament.

“Harinder sought permission to participate. We’ve got to remember that at the 2022 Asian Games, he won the mixed doubles gold medal with Dipika Pallikal. I would see it more as a positive experience that he can offer other players. Even if he wins the tournament, he will not be considered for selection,” said Poncha.

Harinder entered the doubles championships with Om after his original partner, Ramit Tandon, withdrew because of injury. He, however, could not take the court on Wednesday as Jinash and Reyansh handed Harinder and Om a walkover.

Harinder, who has largely limited himself to sparring sessions since becoming a coach, is excited to compete again. “I want to share my experience with everyone. Doubles tournaments don’t really happen throughout the year,” he said.

Meanwhile, all seeded pairs across categories were handed first-round byes.

The results: Men: Round of 16: Shubham & Vedant Patel bt Akashay Deepak & Parthiban 11-8, 10-12, 11-2; Mathew Godwin & Navaneeth Prabhu bt Vidik Karkashe & Yash Sonwani 11-4, 11-6; Ravi Dixit & Vikas Mehra bt Ajinkya Shinde & Omkar Avhad 11-3,11-4; Guhan Senthilkumar & P.R. Sandhesh bt Naman Surana & Pranav Agarwal 11-1, 11-2; Harinderpal Singh & Om Semwal w/o Jinash & Reyansh.

Women: Group B (round robin): Janet Vidhi & Pooja Arthi bt Kriya Saravanan & Nandikasree (retd). Mixed: Round of 16: Ravi Dixit & Janet Vidhi bt R. Dinesh & Ananya Narayan 4-11, 11-5, 11-8.