Squash is not a well renowned sport in the world compared to other leading sports, more so among Sri Lankans. The cost, not being a broadcast friendly sport, not making the cut in the Olympics, so on and so forth, numerous reasons have caused the sport to be so. In spite of that squash is one of the most physically demanding sports which requires a lot of tactics and fitness for the players and quite thrilling and interesting to watch for the spectators. In a nutshell it’s one of the most under-rated sports in the sports line-up.
A little background
Squash has its similarities with tennis but unlike tennis it is played within only one half and that half is surrounded by walls on all four sides, with the players being on the same side. That makes physical interruptions come into play, making the job of the match referee a vital part of the game. Prior to the start of the match a warm up session is conducted for four minutes, not for whom you guessed, the players but for the ball, similar to warming up the tyres in motorsport. A double yellow dot rubber ball is used in tournament level, which is not playable at all without the warmup as it won’t bounce.
A squash game is played with five games, each game ending with 11 points and should be won with a two points difference (or more), similar to squash’s counterpart badminton. The rules are simple, the ball can only bounce once on the floor and any number of times on the surrounding walls after hitting the front wall. There are lines on the walls limiting the region of play, while the lines on the ground only comes to effect during the serve. The ball must hit the front wall for it to be a valid shot and the ball hitting the floor before hitting the wall in a shot is a fault.
Sri Lankan prospects
Squash in Sri Lanka has been in the rise for the past couple of years, even if it’s unbeknownst to the general public, more school level and open level players have been taking part, with a great contribution from Sri Lanka Squash with their squash development plan, which included allowing Sri Lankan players into PSA (Professional Squash Association) rankings making way for more international exposure.
Squash had its inaugural Commonwealth campaign at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur but it took further 12 years for Sri Lanka to make their first appearance in Delhi 2010. Sri Lanka is yet to score a medal through Squash. The Sri Lankan Squash squad for the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games will include Ravindu Laksiri, Shamil Wakeel, Chanithma Sinaly and Yeheni Kuruppu including the national coach, Rehman Gul who was the former Pakistani national coach. It’s worth mentioning the current, 3 times consecutive women’s national champion and former South Asian bronze medallist Fathoum Issadeen (PSA rankings 246) who was not included in the Commonwealth squad. Ravindu Laksiri would be the most experienced out of the four, having participated at two previous Commonwealth games while the rest would mark their debut this time around. For the first time in Sri Lankan Commonwealth Games history, Sri Lanka would be taking part in women’s and mixed double’s teams events.
Ravindu Laksiri
The key player of the squad would be the current, 9 times consecutive national men’s champion Ravindu Laksiri. Not only in the national level, he has been a force to reckon with in the international level as well, reaching the quarter finals of the Bangamatha International PSA Squash Tournament held in March 2022, beating No. 8 seed player Muhammad Ashab Irfan, creating major stirs among the squash community. Even though he lost to a No.2-seed player in the quarter finals, he finished fifth in the tournament. In his junior years he was able to clinch 5th in the 2013 Youth Asian Squash Championship and the plate champion at the Asian Senior Individual Squash Championship in 2015. He was a part of the 2016 and 2019 South Asian Games’ bronze medal winning Sri Lankan Men’s teams. Within just months of his first tournament year, he was able to ascend from 654th to 311th in the world rankings, which is quite impressive. He recently was able to win the Exeter Country Open 2022 held in England, making him the first ever Sri Lankan to win a PSA championship outside Sri Lankan soil. He came up second in the Mote Squash Open 2022 held in England as well. Ravindu Laksiri made his Commonwealth games debut in Glasgow 2014. He got knocked out in the round of 64 and he was knocked out in the round of 32 at the next edition in Gold Coast in 2018. Yet following his progress throughout the years, we can expect great prospects from him in this year’s edition.
Shamil Wakeel
Shamil Wakeel is currently the No. 2 ranked Sri Lankan player and 532nd in the PSA world rankings. He is a former Asian Junior bronze medallist and the former Junior National Champion. He is the current Senior National Runner Up as well and has been second to only Ravindu Laksiri himself for a couple of years. The 24-year-old is massively talented in his own right. Wakeel played a major role in the 2019 South Asian Games’ bronze medal winning Sri Lankan Men’s team. Alongside Ravindu Laksiri, he has been a formidable force in national and international double’s arena. The duo is the current national double’s champions and they were able to finish fifth in the Chieng Mai Cup Double’s Championship beating the likes of Singapore, Indonesia and Brazil in 2019. He was a part of the 2021 Asian Squash Team Championship team, contributing with his exceptional skill to raise Sri Lanka up to 10th in Asia since 2012. In a more recent note Shamil Wakeel reached the quarter final in the Mote Squash Open 2022 in England.
Chanithma Sinaly
One of the leading women’s squash players of Sri Lanka currently, albeit being only 16 years of age, Chanithma Sinaly takes part in the Birmingham Commonwealth games having dominated in her Junior Categories and being the runner-up in the 2021 National Championships. She has had international exposure and shown her brilliance at the international stage, reaching the top 8 in the 2016 Asian Junior Individual Championship and doing one better in 2017, finishing 7th overall. She played her part being a member of the 2019 South Asian Games’ bronze medal winning Sri Lankan Women’s team as well. Sinaly was also a major driving force behind the fifth place winning Sri Lankan team in the Asian Junior Team Championships in 2019. She won the under 17 plate Championship at the 2022 Asian Junior Squash Championship defeating players from Pakistan, Thailand and Indonesia. She is currently ranked 323 in PSA World Rankings.
Yeheni Kuruppu
Yeheni Kuruppu is another teenage squash sensation in Sri Lanka and has had dominated her junior categories, take part in the Birmingham Commonwealth games. She was a part of the 2019 South Asian Games’ bronze medal winning Sri Lankan Women’s team, showing her excellence in the court. In 2021 she was the Girl’s Champion in both Ritzbury Junior Championship and SLS Junior Open Championship. She took part in 2019 and 2021 Asian Individual Squash Championships and was a member of the Sri Lankan team at the 2021 Asian Team Squash Championship as well. In 2022 she was able to claim the National Open Double’s Women’s Championship alongside Chanithma Sinaly and the National Open Double’s Mixed Championship alongside Shariff Hakeem. At the 2022 Asian Junior Squash Championship, she was able to win the under 19 plate championship, defeating Singapore and Korean players. She previously won the under 17 plate championship in the 26th Asian Junior Individual Squash Championship in 2019. Yeheni Kuruppu also played a vital role in the fifth place winning Sri Lankan team in the Asian Junior Team Championships in 2019. She is currently ranked 335th in the PSA World Rankings.
The prospect of glory towards Sri Lanka through Squash would be high this year, with regards to the four talented players taking part and it’s quite impressive that both of the ladies taking part are under the age of 19. It would be accurate to point out that the future of the sport in Sri Lanka is looking bright and promising. We as MoraSpirit wish them the best of luck!
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