CHENNAI: START young. Win medals at Asian or international level before college. Apply for scholarships at Ivy League schools and go abroad. These steps, in the same order, are what some of the squash players in the country follow. While some of them come back and play for the country or participate in Professional Squash Association (PSA) tournaments after graduation, there are quite a few who focus on academics and ignore the sport.

On Sunday, India’s Veer Chotrani beat higher-seeded countrymate Yash Fadte 11-5, 9-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-7 in a hard-fought final to win the Asian Junior Individual Squash Championship. By doing so, he became the third Indian to win the prestigious title after Ravi Dixit and Velavan Senthilkumar. When asked what plans he had in mind for the future, Veer’s response was on the same lines. “I will be going to Cornell University for higher studies,” he told this daily

But he did not stop there. After graduation, the Mumbai lad wants to get back on the PSA circuit and represent the country. He was also excited about one particular thing. In New York, Veer will train under David Palmer, who is also the coach of India’s top men’s player Saurav Ghosal. “That is something I am looking forward to. The experience will be incredible,” the son of former national champion Manish Chotrani said. While the opportunity abroad is exciting for the youngster, he is also sad about missing out on PSA events in the country. “The Squash Rackets Federation of India is planning to hold tournaments for youngsters. Unfortunately, I won’t be here. But I will play when I can,” he said.

Deepak Mishra, one of the coaches who accompanied the Indians in Macau, also hopes that Veer comes back and takes up the sport professionally. “I have coached this batch for some time now during camps and they are extremely talented. But when they go abroad, a lot of things change. I want them to come back and play the sport,” Deepak said.

Veer shocked a lot of top seeds before winning the title. While Deepak praised his performance in Macau, the young coach is of the opinion that Veer needs to improve his fitness. He even joked about his chubby physique and suggested that he should get toned if he wants to make an impact. Veer too agreed on this. “I was a lot chubbier,” he laughed. “But I am going to work on it and come back stronger.”