National Squash | Playing abroad has helped boost my confidence immensely, says Tanvi Khanna

Objective: Tanvi says the Indian team will benefit if the federation and the government can sponsor a select number of players.
| Photo Credit: Akhila Easwaran

Tanvi Khanna cut a sorry figure on Thursday. The 27-year-old, with an apparent right knee injury, conceded the women’s final to the 15-year-old Anahat Singh at the Squash Nationals here.

She had spoken about finding a foreign training base on Wednesday. “I now need to start travelling abroad (for training). Maybe I can find a base to play with other (foreign) players. And, of course, the coaches abroad are also amazing. But I need more funding for that,” she said after her semifinal victory.

The primary reason is quite interesting. “I do need sparring partners. That’s what I don’t get. So, I’m only playing with boys. And when I play with girls, the game is very different.”

ALSO READ: National Squash | Velavan and Anahat emerge victorious

Tanvi felt that her confidence had shot up since she’d played a reasonable number of tournaments abroad this season.

“I’ve not played so many tournaments abroad. So, I was lacking that exposure. But, I got the chance to play five or six abroad this year, and I feel like it’s helped me immensely.”

She had won the women’s team bronze at the Hangzhou Asian Games but felt that the team “could have easily finished with the gold or the silver.”

“I feel like we’ll be more prepared in the next games as we have more depth in our team now. A lot of girls are picking up and coming into the tour. It’s very different from four years ago when only four players were playing. Now we have like six to seven girls who are actually good.

“It’ll really help in the next Asian Games if the federation and the government can kind of highlight five or six players who should be breaking into the top 50 in the World (and sponsor them). Only if they do that will they be able to get a gold at the Asian Games.”