Dark horse Abhishek Pradhan glimmers

Mumbai’s Abhishek Pradhan, seeded in the 5-8 brackets, came up with a strong, impressive performance to register a sensational upset win against top seed Robert Downer of England in a men’s quarter-final match of the 42nd Maharashtra State Open Squash tournament, which concluded earlier this week. Competing in the city after four years, Pradhan emerged as a dark horse of the tournament securing the runners-up trophy after losing in the finals.

The Borivali lad exhibited solid fighting qualities as he matched the powerful game of Downer (world rank 207) and engaged the 25-year-old Englishman in long rallies in the five-games affair. He showed fine composure to pull through a deserving 11-5, 11-13, 11-1, 10-12, 11-4 victor to advance to the semi-finals. In the last four, he maintained his winning momentum to overcome a spirited fight from compatriot Abhishek Agarwal posting a 11-8, 11-7, 11-7 win.

The 24-year-old says he picked up the racket at the age of nine training at the local gymkhanas improving his game one step at a time. The real challenge began for Pradhan when he was 14 and he moved away from his family to train at the Indian Squash Academy in Chennai. Living alone in a city of unknown people was the most challenging period, he says. “I was very immature back then and going to Chennai was extremely demanding. In the first few months, I wanted to come back home but I also wanted to pursue squash. I faced a great deal of challenges apart from training. Now, that I look back, I have emerged as a better player,” he recalls.

As he lifted the runners-up trophy, Pradhan also pocketed a sum of Rs 75,000.

The right handed smasher was unavailable for the last four years as he was completing his Political Science degree in the United States. Pradhan admits that continuing squash over there helped him improve his game, which is the reason why he is in stride after he has returned. Pradhan featured in the National Championship where he lost against the well-known Sourav Ghosal in the quarter-finals.  “As soon as I came back I took part in the tournament. I couldn’t stay away from the game. It was a good experience and going down against India’s best was not disappointing. Such losses help you improve the game and bounce back better,” he asserts.

After enjoying his time in the western part of the globe, Pradhan criticises the lack of training facilities in Mumbai. The city has a handful gymkhanas or squash courts for players to train, with most of them being highly expensive for the common masses. He explains, “For me, it is a travelling of one and a half hours for one side just to go and train at a good facility. There are many players who struggle to find a court to practice the game and squash is not a game that you can play on the streets. This is the reason why all the good players move out to train.”

“In Mumbai, there are no top class squash players, not many coaches and a few courts,”he laments. Pradhan has earned quite a few plaudits from players after his recent display. He is aiming for a return to the Indian courts training hard for the national championships.