MUMBAI: The wide smile that lit up Saurav Ghosal’s face said it all, as India’s veteran squash ace walked by the mixed zone at the Jio Convention Centre here on Monday.
After years and years of waiting, Ghosal’s sport finally received the embrace it has so desperately sought – that of the Olympic family.
On the second day of the 141st IOC Session, squash officially became a part of the Los Angeles 2028 Summer Olympics programme along with cricket, baseball/softball, flag football and lacrosse.
“It’s an absolutely monumental day for world squash,” the 37-year-old Ghosal told a group of reporters. “Every squash player worth his salt has dreamt of this day. We are fully appreciative and indebted to the IOC and LA28 for giving us their vote of confidence in terms of what we are doing as a sport.”
Asked about the landmark development coming for squash after several failed campaigns in the past to enter the Olympic fold, Ghosal smiled again. “We are absolutely ecstatic that we have finally, finally, after all these years of perseverance, which is what the game of squash is all about, perseverance, that we are at this step of finally making it to LA28.
“Hopefully we will put up a brilliant show and will showcase to the world what great athletes our sport has and show humbly, that we deserve to be on the biggest sporting platform on the world, which is the Olympics,” he said.
Those past disappointments, however, would only push squash to innovate, according to Ghosal. “Like with anything in life, when you come that close and you fall short, it kind of hurts a little bit more and you feel sad.
“But what it has also done is it’s given the sport the motivation to innovate and see how best organically we can really grow as a sport,” said the man who extended his Asian Games medals tally to nine in Hangzhou, with a silver in singles and a team gold.
World Squash Federation president Zena Wooldridge shared Ghosal’s jubilation over the Olympic nod. “It’s a game-changer for us,” Wooldridge said, elaborating on the struggle national squash federations have faced due to the sport’s non-Olympic status. “Because we’ve not been Olympic, it’s been difficult for many of our national federations to engage and get funding. The difference now is they’ll be part of the Olympic family within their country and that makes a significant difference to so many nations.”
(Reuters Photo)
So what was pivotal in squash making a successful case this time? “A number of things. One of them is, we are universal in terms of our players at the top level. Then, the growth of the professional tour. It’s grown hugely now and we’ve got 34 top-level tour events with 10 million pounds now going into those top-level tour events,” Wooldridge said. “But also, we are a more broadcastable sport now. Squash used to struggle because of its broadcast capabilities, but now with the technology we’ve got that we’ve implemented…the whole package is now more exciting.”
Seven years ago, ahead of the Rio Olympics, Ghosal could only vent his frustration over hearing and reading about the world’s top golfers like Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth opting to skip the Summer Games, even as squash longed to be a part of the programme.
On Monday afternoon, you wondered whether there was any frustration of a different kind hiding beneath the delight on Ghosal’s face. With age not on his side and LA28 still five years away, was Ghosal a tad regretful that the Olympic welcome didn’t arrive earlier?
(IOC President Thomas Bach with India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi - PTI Photo)
“Of course I wish I was 10 years younger, there’s no doubt about it,” he said. Not that it means he is abandoning any hope of being in the reckoning for a maiden Olympics appearance.
“Look, if 2028 Olympics wasn’t there, I don’t think I would be playing till 2028, let’s put it that way. I’ve just come back from Hangzhou last week and I need some time to sit down with my team and family and figure out if this is a realistic possibility.
“Of course if I play ’28, I want to qualify and win a medal for India, to have a realistic shot. I hope that I can do it, but no promises right now, but it is definitely something that is a big pull for me now.
“I’m going to do everything I can to try my best, which is what I’ve always done in my career, to be there and to win something for India,” said the current World No. 20.
