Olympics chapter has come at right time for me: Ramit Tandon

Mumbai: Ramit Tandon may have taken a belated plunge into full-time squash, but there’s one thing he reckons has come just at the right time in his professional career — the sport’s inclusion in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

“I caught it at the right time. Unlike, for example, my friend Saurav,” he smiled.

While Saurav Ghosal, at 38, is fighting an aging body in his gradual return to the PSA tour after retiring last year, Tandon, at 32, has taken steady strides in recent years to take over from his friend as the India No.1 currently ranked 33rd.

“The way I look at it, I’m at the prime of my career. And in the next 3-4 years I can only get better because I’m going to develop that experience,” Tandon said.

It’s not common for a 32-year-old squash pro to speak about “developing experience”. Tandon’s career trajectory, though, has been anything but common.

Among the top juniors, the Columbia University graduate went from smashing balls to tracking Wall Street in a full-time hedge fund job. He swapped shoes again and went pro prior to the 2018 Asian Games where he was part of India’s bronze winning team.

Since then, he’s made the US his training and competitive base, collecting four PSA titles along the way while climbing the rankings. He continues to largely compete in the bigger tour events, making an exception to turn up for JSW Indian Open here, a PSA Copper event.

In terms of volume of tournaments and matches, Tandon is a bit of an anomaly. For instance, world No.1 Ali Farag, Tandon’s contemporary with whom he developed a fond college rivalry, has played 549 matches. Tandon, as per his PSA profile page, has played less than half of that.

“In the ranking bracket I am in, I’m probably the least experienced in terms of number of years on the circuit,” Tandon said. “Which also means the body is relatively fresh for my age, which I’m finding an advantage now. With the Olympics in mind, it’s perhaps a good thing in hindsight. I have some fuel stored in the tank.”

The pros come with a few cons too. Tandon believes he loses a lot of matches because his opponents carry 10-15 years of experience playing the tour. “They have a bit more mental maturity than I do,” he said.

As he looks to develop that while putting in more days and matches, the Olympics nod for squash in late 2023 came as a massive driving force. “A big reason why I’m pushing myself right now is the Olympics chapter, coming exactly at the right time for me.”

For this season’s calendar, Tandon has earmarked a couple of Gold and Platinum events in Egypt and Zurich ahead of the World Championships and British Open. Having lost the company of his shadow — “Saurav has basically been my guide since I started playing” — at the top level, Tandon wants to progress from just competing in bigger events to “doing some damage”.

“In those bigger events, only two Indian men to have made Round of 16 is Saurav and me. I would like to change that; make a quarter or semi. Indians are happy with just qualifying for the World Championship, but that can’t be the outlook.”

That’s also not the outlook Tandon would like to have with 2028 LA in mind. His roadmap involves finishing this season above his career-high 2024 ranking of 28, and then kicking on by doing better in PSA events.

“Mathematically, if I maintain this ranking, I’ll be there (in LA). The goal is to climb up the rankings, and aim to head to the Olympics with a seeded position.”

Anahat beats Joshna, enters final

Rising teen Anahat Singh defeated veteran star Joshna Chinappa in a battle of generations to enter the final of the JSW Indian Open at Bombay Gymkhana on Thursday.

Anahat, the new India No.1 at age 17, was too good on the front court for the 38-year-old Joshna in a 3-1 (11-7, 5-11, 11-6, 11-6) semis win.

While Anahat came into this tournament winning a Challenger in Chennai last week, Joshna, former top 10, only returned to competitive singles action in the Chennai event after a lengthy knee injury layoff. Joshna had, last December, accompanied the Indian women’s team that included Anahat as coach at the World Team Championships.