SRFI receives five applications for coach positions

As the deadline for submission of entries for the job of coaches for the Indian men and women teams was reached on Wednesday, Squash Rackets Federation of India (SRFI) received five entries.

Two from Egypt—Amir Waghi and Omar El Meleigy, two from Engand—Chris Walker and Chris Ryder, and one from Australia-David Palmer. Among the applicants, except Meleigy, the rest have solid coaching experience.

As far as coaching goes, Waghi (52 years of age) and Palmer (44) have the best of resumes. Wagi’s wards have won 25 World titles in different categories: men, women and juniors. Waghi, who was the former Egypt National coach, has also trained a few Indians including Dipika Pallikal.

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Former World No. 1 Palmer, on the other hand, fits in well with SRFI’s requirements, with his experience of winning medals in doubles event of the Commonwealth Games. The Australian has coached Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu, Saurav Ghosal, Joshna Chinappa and Dipika at different points of time.

“Barring Meleigy, I have met and interacted with all the coaches. We will be happy if Sports Ministry and SAI finalise a coach (in consultation with us) by the end of this year," Cyrus Poncha, Secretary of SRFI told Sportstar on Wednesday.

"We did really well in the 2018 Asian Games winning five medals and were in the top three among Indian sports as far as medal tally goes. We want to maintain the momentum by doing well in both the 2022 CWG and Asian Games," he added.