‘There’s no ideal squash infrastructure in Sri Lanka’: PSA Challenger title winner Ravindu

Ravindu Laksiri’s first visit to Chennai in twelve years turned out to be fortunate, as he had a walkover win declared for him after his opponent Rahul Baitha failed to turn up within the stipulated time for the men’s final in the HCL Squash Tour.

It was Laksiri’s second PSA Challenger title in four tournaments in India this year. He’d lost in the finals of the Hamdard Squashters Northern Slam in New Delhi and the Poona Club Open in Pune, before winning back-to-back titles in the HCL Squash Tour in Indore and Chennai. So, if it was third time lucky for him, the fourth time was unbelievably lucky!

“Actually, I saw that a lot of Indian Junior players played very well. For instance, I played one of the top players in the u-15 category (Lokesh Subramani) in the second round. I think compared to Sri Lanka, there are more good players in India,” he observed after his title win at the Indian Squash and Triathlon Academy (ISTA) here on Monday.

The 28-year-old is one of the top players in his country and has won eleven National singles titles since 2013. He said that there are currently seven PSA circuit players in Sri Lanka and there is a good player pool especially in Colombo.

“Squash is very popular in Colombo and Kandy. They have good players in the Colombo area. They have a lot of players in the u-9 till u-19 age groups. The army and the Navy also have a lot of players.”

He felt that Sri Lanka doesn’t have the ideal squash infrastructure, and added that there’s not even a single all-glass court in the entire country.

“You have a lot of academies in Sri Lanka. Actually, they have courts, but not in good condition. They have no glass courts in Sri Lanka. We have a big challenge (getting accustomed to glass courts) when we go to other countries,” he said.

When the financial crisis in Sri Lanka was at its peak, the National squash team had to stay and practice at an army camp for around a month before 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games.

“It was very difficult to play at that time. They had no petrol, no gas, queues everywhere. We couldn’t go to practice because of lack of transportation. We were staying in one place and playing squash. We somehow managed at that time. They had an army camp in Colombo. We stayed there and played. I think we spent one month before the Commonwealth Games. The entire team stayed there.”

Laksiri is a HR executive with Brandix, an apparel manufacturing firm based in Sri Lanka. His employer sponsors for him to participate in PSA tournaments and without a dedicated coach, he keeps learning through playing.

“I don’t have any coach in Sri Lanka. I got the experience only through the matches. That’s the thing. Travelling and learning some good things by playing. I actually started my full-time professional career in 2022. I suppose I’ve become a professional player very late,” he said.

He reckoned that the European circuit is the most competitive and challenging from his experience and stated that his primary goal is to break into the top-50 (current rank - 133) in the PSA men’s singles rankings.

Source: SPORTSTAR

--Agencies