Squash Rackets Federation of India reveals new plans

SRFI secretary Poncha says a mobile app will be launched in two months; now the association awaits new guidelines from the government as lockdown ends May 31.

Cyrus Poncha said a mobile app (Android & IOS) and inclusive of players, coaches, referees, academies will be launched two months.

 

The Squash Rackets Federation of India (SRFI) has brought in quite a few changes in its national circuit. Listing out the tweaks at a webinar on Saturday, Cyrus Poncha, Secretary of SRFI and Harish Prasad, National Development Officer, assured that all the changes would be implemented gradually once the lockdown is lifted.

Poncha said a mobile app (Android & IOS) (inclusive of players, coaches, referees, academies) will be launched “in a couple of months”. Moreover, I-Spin Pro has been added to the existing I-Spin free account. There will be no change as of now in the dates and venues of the national junior/sub-junior championships (scheduled in Mumbai from October 31 to November 6). “The SRFI rankings till April have been frozen, and an updated rankings list will be released after the junior nationals,” informed Poncha. 

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Players can withdraw their entries three hours (6 p.m.) prior to closure (9 p.m.), said Poncha. When asked whether this facility could be misused, he said it has been done with the best intention of helping the players. “We will look into it definitely,” he said.  

Girls in the age-group of U-11, 13, 15 and 17 can take part in one more category, U-19, apart from their own age groups. “This will not be applicable to boys as of now,” said Poncha.  Intra-city schools championship for boys and girls will be held in districts and cities across the country as and when the situation gets better. Further, closed state championships, which earlier had 2-star rankings points will carry only 1-star now.

While the World Squash Federation has given a set of guidelines to be followed, Poncha said “they are not an all-encompassing one that could work in all countries [uniformly]. We are waiting for new guidelines from State and Central Governments to plan our next course of action.”