New Delhi: For the first time in 24 years, Saurav Ghosal will watch an Asian Games from the sidelines. The former India No. 1, whose first appearance in the continental event came in Busan 2002, stepped away after nine medals: two gold, two silver and five bronze. But he did so with one lingering regret: no singles gold medal.Now, his role has changed. Ghosal is a mentor to teenage sensation Anahat Singh, who carries India’s gold medal hopes to Aichi-Nagoya. With squash also offering direct qualification to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics for its gold medallists, the stakes are higher than ever.In a conversation with TimesofIndia.com, Ghosal reflected on watching instead of playing, preparing Anahat for the biggest tournament of her young career, and why India should judge this squad by medals — not merely potential.“I wish I was there. I wish I was still playing. Kind of the best times of your life, of my life at least,” Ghosal said of missing his first Asian Games since 2002.For Ghosal, the Asian Games always stood apart from the professional tour — not because of the attention it attracts, but because of what it represents.“It’s more to kind of have the honour to play for India, win for India and be proud doing that. I think that kind of makes it internally something which is bigger than a normal event,” he admitted.
I wish I was there. I wish I was still playing. Kind of the best times of your life, of my life at least
Saurav Ghosal is not at the Asian Games for the first time since 2002
The straight knockout format, he added, leaves little room for error.“You kind of need to be laser-focused at these events because one bad day can destroy the entire event. Especially in a sport like ours where it’s straight knockouts. So you focus on yourself, focus on the things that you need to do well. And you focus on both what you do on court and off court. That’s equally important in an event where it’s quite long as well, which is different to what we do on the professional tour. I think all those things are things that you focus on more rather than things that can happen outside of your bubble,” he explained.Anahat’s gold medal preparations: Clarity over change
File photo of India squash player Anahat Singh. (PTI)
Eighteen-year-old Anahat Singh enters the Games after a remarkable rise that has made her one of India’s genuine medal contenders. Rather than altering her game, Ghosal says the focus has been on tactical clarity against specific opponents.“She’s a well-rounded player overall. I think it’s about understanding who you’re playing in this event, what your opposition is going to look like, trying to get extreme clarity on how you’re going to play them, how you respond to what they’re going to do to you and do so in a manner that works in your favour,” said 40-year-old Ghosal.Execution, he believes, is the difference between preparation and performance.“There is no guarantee that it will work out. But you have to put the building blocks in place in your mind to be able to have a chance to produce it on court,” he reasoned.Anahat arrives carrying expectations few Indian teenagers have faced in squash. Ghosal’s advice is rooted in the mindset that sustained him throughout his own career.
Saurav Ghosal alongside Anahat Singh.
“The good thing about her is that she’s quite carefree. She’s a happy-go-lucky person. So that helps. I think that’s helped her through the years. The expectations go back to the same thing that it’s not in your control. And it’s all about perception,” said Ghosal.“When I was playing, I always thought that if there was expectation, that means people actually believed in me. And that means I had something about me (that) I was actually good enough. It was almost like a re-emphasis of the belief that I had in myself that, ‘OK, I might actually be good enough to do this.'”The key, he says, is preventing the mind from drifting towards outcomes.“If you just think of it on those lines when you’re playing, it’s a bit like fooling your mind a little bit with all the necessary information there is to kind of occupy it so that you don’t have time to think about, ‘Oh, what if I don’t win a medal?’ Because that is not going to help you win. That is not going to help you play better.”
You almost crowd your mind with all the things that you need to do to play well. And it’s almost like the antithesis of an idle mind is a devil’s workshop
Saurav Ghosal
“So you almost crowd your mind with all the things that you need to do to play well. And it’s almost like the antithesis of an idle mind is a devil’s workshop.“So you don’t want that mind to be idle in a negative way. You want that mind to be calm, but you still want things to be going on in your mind which are related to you playing better. And that’s things that you do on court, but also off court. It’s helped me over the years and that’s what we’re telling Anahat to do as well,” he added.Genuine contenders and an Olympic opportunityFormer India coach Major Maniam has labelled both Anahat and Abhay Singh as genuine medal hopes, a view Ghosal shares.“There’s no doubt that both of them come into these Games as genuine medal contenders. It would be disappointing for them personally if they didn’t win a medal at least.”The bigger prize, however, is gold. Under the qualification system, the Asian Games singles champion earns a direct place at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, where squash will make its Olympic debut.Ghosal acknowledges that the Olympic incentive makes the tournament “definitely bigger” but insists it isn’t a daily talking point within the camp.“It would be disappointing for them personally if they didn’t win a medal at least. Obviously, the big prize at these Asian Games is the gold because that gives you the Olympic qualification spot. And that obviously is the big one. And it’s hard and rightfully so. Getting an Olympic qualification spot shouldn’t come easy.“The idea obviously is that whether Anahat wins this or doesn’t win it, she is going to gun for the Olympics. And when you get to the Olympics, you want to try and win something. So it’s a journey that has to happen. Even if she wins the gold here and gets in the Olympics, it doesn’t stop there because that doesn’t guarantee you anything. It guarantees you being there, but you’re not going to be there just to make up the numbers. You’re going to be there to try and do something. So I think that journey continues,” added Saurav.The target: Medal in every event
India won five medals in squash at the 2022 Asian Games. (PTI)
India entered the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou with eight members, clinching five medals, including two golds. Alongside Malaysia, India were joint-top in squash medals at the continental showpiece. Three years later, Ghosal stopped short of calling it the deepest team ever, but he leaves little ambiguity about the standard it should meet.“Sport is black and white, right? There’s no subjectivity. I think medals are the most objective barometer, to be honest. We should medal as a bare minimum in every event that we are in.”So, women’s singles, men’s singles, mixed doubles and both team events. I think that’s a bare minimum. I think if we don’t medal in any of those, that’s a disappointment. What would really take it to another level is the number of golds that we can get.His ambitious target is even higher.“Let’s say three golds. And one of them is in the singles… if we’re able to do that, then it’s a cracker of Games for Indian squash. It’s not like we’re being unrealistic, but it’s not easy,” he concluded.