Asian Games on Joshna Chinappa's radar but Olympics 'long way off'

New Delhi, Aug 26 (PTI) Veteran player Joshna Chinappa continues to push boundaries despite being on the wrong side of 30s, setting short-term goals with next year's Asian Games firmly on her radar.

The former World No. 10, who turns 39 next month, stands as the last active member of Indian squash's golden generation, following the retirements of Dipika Pallikal and Saurav Ghosal.

"I am just taking one tournament at a time right now and I am going to play a few more PSAs towards the end of this year," Joshna told PTI on the sidelines of a felicitation ceremony organised by HCL and Squash Rackets Federation of India.

"At this stage in my life, I'm taking it a couple of months at a time, seeing whether my body's fit, how it's feeling, things like that, and I'm just very selective with the tournaments that I play now." With the toll the sport takes on her body, Joshna prefers to focus on immediate, attainable goals. One of them is the Asian Games in Japan next year.

"The Asian Games is definitely there in the back of my mind. But again, it just depends on a few more tournaments, how I do. Maybe I have trials, things like that." "I am preparing for it. But if it happens, great. If not, that's also okay." Squash is set to make its Olympic debut at the 2028 Los Angeles Games, but Joshna isn't looking that far ahead.

"It's (Olympics) honestly a long way off right now for me. And right now I'm just really enjoying playing squash more in the moment and just playing selective tournaments." When asked what keeps her going after all these years, she replied simply: "I love winning medals for India. That’s always been my biggest motivation. As long as I feel passionate, as long as I love playing squash and know there’s still something left in me, I want to see it through." Former world no. 10 Joshna underwent knee surgery after the 2023 Asian Games. Since then she has competed in a slew of tournaments including partnering with teenage prodigy Anahat Singh to clinch the women’s doubles title at the Asian Championships in June.

Talking about her recovery process she said "It definitely takes a lot more work at this stage in my late 30s to still be competing, playing singles, playing doubles. So yes, the effort to look after my body is a lot more, there is more physio and, just training is a lot more different these days.

"Recovery really depends on the effort I put in. If I have my physio with me, if I stretch properly, all of that, I'm able to recover pretty well." Reflecting on her training approach post-surgery, she added, "It's really about being smart. When you're younger, your body can take a lot more, you can push harder. "Now, it's about not overtraining, protecting my legs, and ensuring I'm doing the right strength work, watching my diet, and listening to my body. I just want to get the best out of myself without overdoing it." Asian and World squash medallists felicitated ============================= The SRFI and HCL group felicitated 26 players who won medals at the Asian Championships and Junior World Championships. The medallists were honoured with commemorative cash awards totalling Rs 11 lakh. PTI APA BS BS