Still scope to expand base of squash in India: Ritwik

Mumbai, Aug 6 (UNI) India's top squash player Ritwik Bhattacharya, ranked 43rd in the world is happy that these types of PSA Star One tourneys are being organised in India.

Speaking to UNI on the sidelines of the press conference to announce this tournament which will be held at Otters Club here from August 8-13, the recent winner of the Chennai Open said that these types of tourneys help immensely to raise awarness of the game in the country.

The impact these tourney's have on youngsters cannot be quantified. When a youngster manages to win a few points against a player of the calibre of Mark Jensen, who had been ranked as high as fourth in the world, the confidence level suddenly shoots up and the same player is a different one altogether, he added.

The India number one also felt that though in the last five years the game of squash has increased manifold in the country, there still remains a lot of scope to further expand the base of the game and thereby the standard to reach a level ''where we can take on the top players of the world on a regular basis stand a chance.'' Speaking about his experiences on the PSA tour, Ritwik said that he did not know how good he was before stepping into the tour.

''As a 15-year-old I didn't think it was a big deal being ranked number one junior in India,'' he said.

The 26-year-old also said that winning the title in Chennai and breaking into top-50 has given him more confidence.

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