India squash team foreign coach's term extended by two years

Chennai, July 5: The contract of the national squash team's foreign coach Achraf El Karargui has been extended by two years by the Sports Authority of India.

Egypt's Karargui, whose one-year contract was to expire at the end of this month, would now work along with the national coach Cyrus Poncha till 2019.

The Squash Rackets Federation of India (SRFI) made a proposal in this regard which had been accepted by the SAI, Ponch said on Wednesday (July 5), welcoming the extension of Karargui.

"It is certainly a positive move and we hope that Indian squash will continue to bring laurels to the nation. It was a very eventful year with coach Acharaf (Karargui) coming in, giving us the Egyptian way of training," he said.

"Indian players have benefitted from his presence in the one-year stint. Therefore the SRFI put forward an application to get an extension," Poncha said.

Karargui guided the Indian players to success at the Asian Individual Squash Championships here in April with Joshna Chinnappa winning the women's title, beating Dipika Pallikal in the final.

Saurav Ghosal also reached the final, but lost to Hong Kong's Max Lee. The Egyptian coach is presently travelling with the junior players and Chinappa, in Alexandria, Egypt.

He is likely to return to India on July 10. The Indian players will take part various tournaments including World Junior Individividual Championships and Women's World Junior Team Championship in New Zealand later this month and the World Doubles in Manchester next month.

They would also be seen in action in the World Men's Team Championships in France in November.

PTI