N. Ramachandran and Joshna Chinappa are very happy at squash making the grade at the Olympics.
| Photo Credit: File photo
N. Ramachandran, who held the post of president of the World Squash Federation (WSF), still remembers the time when he attended the IOC session in Singapore in 2005 as “a young vice-president of WSF”.
“The IOC session had Sussie Simcock, the then president of WSF, and the legendary Jahangir Khan in attendance. But in those days, we required a two-thirds majority among the IOC members for a sport to get in Olympics. Unfortunately, we didn’t get that,” he said.
The 74-year-old said in his two terms as WSF president (2008 & ‘12) , he did his best to get squash into the Olympics, but in vain. “I would like to thank US Squash and Los Angeles Olympic Committee and the World Squash Federation for recommending squash and thrilled to see squash being part of LA 2028. It has been my dream to have squash in Olympics and I am so happy and proud of the part I’ve played,” he said.
Joshna Chinappa is excited and thrilled to see the sport in the Olympics. The 37-year-old, a former World top-10 player, who was part of the women’s team that won bronze at the Hangzhou Asian Games said: “It was a long-time coming and I am looking forward to it.”
Joshna said the mere thought of playing in Olympics in 2028 is exciting. “Just thinking of the possibility as a player in Los Angeles is exciting. Five years is a long time. I am motivated to see if there is a possibility,” she said.