Egyptian coach Ashraf el Karagui has joined the Indian squash team (boys and girls) ahead of the World junior championship to be held in Bielsko-Biala, Poland from August 7 to 16.
Ashraf, appointed by the Sports Authority of India to serve Indian squash, had an interaction with the members of the Indian team at the Indian Squash Academy last evening.
This will be the Egyptian coach’s first assignment with the Indian squad.
“I had a brief look at them when I had come a month ago and then I have information on them from national coach Cyrus Poncha. So I have a fair idea of what kind of players I have in hand,” he said after the first interaction.
Ashraf, who has come to India directly from Egypt, has already seen a big difference between home and here.
“The big advantage of juniors in Egypt is that there are very many of them ready to be noticed. Each of them get to play others and the different experiences from that can be enriching in the road to preparations,” he said.
“What is significant, additionally is that the top professionals find time to interact with the youngsters. That can be a solid confidence building exercise,” Ashraf added, while indicating why the squash world is usually dominated by the players from Egypt.
From Agencies, Feature image courtesy www.india.com
