by Suman Gupta
Squash Ace Ali Farag wishes RNSF and IPSL the very best
Gul Panag and Masters Champion Rishad Pandole join Pro Abhinav Sinha at the launch
Mumbai, March 28th 2018: After organizing several major squash events very successfully, across the country, Rolling Nicks Sports Foundation (RNSF) proudly brings the Indian Premier Squash League, 2018 (IPSL 2018) to Mumbai. The event is being curated by the founder of the Rolling Nicks Sports Foundation, Abhinav Sinha, a renowned professional squash player turned coach, and will take place in May 2018, at the very prestigious Cricket Club of India (CCI). This is the first time that international squash will be presented in an exciting league format with teams that include India’s most promising Junior National champions, like Yash Fadte, Yoshna Singh, Parth Ambani, etc. who will compete alongside international pros such as Elvinn Keo (Malaysia best rank 5; PSA ranking 165) as well as seasoned masters such as Manish Chotrani, Dalip Triptahi, etc. Several other top junior players from India have shown interest in the league including Aryan Parekh, Advait Adik, Devay Mehta, Amita Gondi, Amira Singh, Shreyas Mehta.
Fitness icon Gul Panag, joined Abhinav Sinha and squash veteran Rishad Pandole (who has held the India No. 1 titles in the Under-19 and Over-35 category) at the announcement event of the IPSL today, along with Mr. Nawal Pandole, Vice Chairman of the CCI & Head of the CCI Squash Committee. The event also kicked off a match series against South African Players in different age categories organized by Rolling Nicks, to encourage international exposure for Indian players.
With the formal announcement of the IPSL, teams are now available for purchase, and are being quickly bought by supporters of the elite sport. The President of the Women’s Chapter of the YPO, Ami Ambani and Gaurav Motwane have already placed their bids for teams.
Gul Panag, a well-known advocate of healthy living adds, “Tournaments like the IPSL encourage a culture of fitness and excellence in India and offer exposure to international excellence. Sport builds character and offers lessons for life, such as perseverance, discipline, dealing with failure and success and so much more. These are essential for
all-round individual development. I am happy to support the Rolling Nicks Foundation and congratulate Abhinav Sinha on this initiative.”
“The IPSL is truly exciting. It is the first competitive, franchise based championship in Indian squash to go beyond geographical borders and include international players. Having played the game all my life, I am happy to see the game growing and the scope of promoting it getting higher. We hope this league format with international players creates never-seen-before exhilaration for the game.”
“India has an abundance of sporting talent. One of the main inspirations behind the IPSL is to present an engaging format along with an international level of play that offers excellent, hands on learning for our best athletes to excel even further. We hope IPSL will encourage growth of the game from the grass roots with teams comprised of various age groups,” adds Abhinav Sinha, in keeping with the original vision of the Rolling Nicks Squash Foundation to nurture and grow national talent.
In its very first edition, the IPSL has also drawn vocal support from the international squash community. Top ranking PSA player, Ali Farag, who has served as the Men’s President for the PSA, said in a recent statement, “I remember playing my very first game after university in Mumbai – it was by Rolling Nicks and was a great event; I’m sure this will be even better. Good luck for the Indian Premier Squash League organized by Rolling Nicks, I’m sure it’s going to be a great success.”
About Abhinav Sinha and the Rolling Nicks Squash Academy : Ace squash player turned coach Abhinav Sinha, started playing the game at the age of 9 guided by brother Ambuj Sinha, also an accomplished squash player. A very successful stint in junior squash was followed by him being seeded No. 1 in India in his university years whilst simultaneously pursuing a law degree in Pune. Abhinav made Pune proud by becoming its first resident of Pune to represent the country in the World Junior and Asian Junior Championships. He also made history for Pune University, by winning the All India Inter-University Championship for the first time, both individually and by successfully captaining their team to the 1st place. Abhinav is amongst a select few Indian to have played the International Pro Tour PSA Squash Circuit across the world, with a best global ranking of 285.
in 2008, at the age of 19, Abhinav founded the Rolling Nicks Squash Foundation (RNSF), fueled by the desire to give back to the sport that gave him so much and the acute awareness of the lack of existing infrastructure required to support and nurture professional squash. RNSF was conceptualized as a facility dedicated to growing the sport from the ground up, supporting players from all socio-economic backgrounds, experience levels and age groups. RNSF is also a dedicated training facility for India’s aspiring touring professionals and top juniors. RNSA works to develop awareness of squash and provide all necessary elements for long term athlete development, including high quality coaching, dedicated court time, world class fitness and training facilities and services for therapy and rehab. With programmes running in Pune and at elite sports clubs in Mumbai like Otters and CCI, Abhinav has coached and mentored several of India’s brightest young stars including Yoshna Singh, Yash Fadte, Tushar Sahani, Veer Chotrani, Aditya Chandani, Vivaan Bhatia, Akanksha Gupta, Mira Kamat, Sharan Punjabi and many more. Over the last 9 years, RNSF has also organized a host of prestigious squash events including interclub tournaments, corporate events, age group championships as well as the Pune Squash League in 2014 and even two elite PSA tournaments. The IPSL 2018, becomes the first event to present squash in a league format with international players.
Squash is played by 20 million people, from 175 different countries, with over 50000 courts worldwide, and 127 national federations. Forbes Magazine has listed squash as the “World’s healthiest sport.”
