Joshna Chinappa will turn 40 in the next few months, right around the time she becomes the first-ever Indian to play the Games for the 7th time.
Joshna has been on the road since she was 9 years old, and, years later, she continues to push her own boundaries in the sport. Comparatively, she’s fitter than ever before, as she respects her ageing body and plays roughly 5 professional events in a calendar year, compared to the 10 to 12 she played up until 2023.
Joshna’s 11th PSA title in Japan last year means she’s still fully capable of competing against players younger than her. She is a part of the Indian Squash golden generation, alongside Saurav Ghosal and Dipika Pallikal, both of whom no longer compete on the PSA tour.
During an interaction with PTI in the lead-up to the September-October Asian Games in Japan, Chinappa said she still has a little competition left in herself as she looks to add to her five medals at the continental event. While she would like to play until Squash’s historic Olympic debut in 2028, she has learned to take life two weeks at a time for now.
“It would be awesome to play in the Olympics, but it is still far away. I’ve had such a special career. I’ve had the opportunity to really play at some of the highest stages. And, of course, it’s great to play at the Olympics. And that’s obviously every athlete’s dream.”
“I’ll be 42 by then. And, of course, squash being so hard on the body, it just depends how my body is. Because, to me, health matters most right now, where I’m at. And I do not compromise on that for a medal, for a little bit of glory. I take my career one month at a time, two weeks at a time,” said Joshna.
Joshna is ranked World No. 73 and is a former top-10 player; she remains India’s second-highest-ranked female after 20th-ranked Anahat Singh. While she plays doubles from time to time, she predominantly remains a singles player.
“So in that sense, because there’s so much attention to detail for me to get on court, I have learned how to maximise getting the best out of my body without punishing it too much. I try and play every three, four weeks; there’s more gap between each tournament to really help me recover, rest, train properly and go a lot more prepared.”
“I definitely choose my tournament schedule a lot better now. And even in terms of training, I do train quite a bit during the week, but I make sure I get enough recovery time between sessions. And if my body is not recovered, I don’t go to train those days. So it’s really understanding when to push and when to back off,” said Joshna.
The sport is both physically and mentally demanding. It’s no secret that an athlete needs the mental push to keep going, and for that, having a sports psychologist is almost essential. Joshna has been taking professional help for years and is currently working with Israeli mental coach Mon Nimrod Brokman, who also works with other elite athletes, including shuttler Lakshya Sen.
“At this stage, you definitely work a lot more on the mental aspect to really stay as calm and focused for each match. I’m playing girls who are like 22, 23, who are fit, fast, strong, incredibly skilful. So it’s important to really understand how to play each and every one so that I’m not overdoing it at any point. And I can still recover for the next match.”
“I have worked with sports psychologists for a long time now. Athletes are humans too, and at times, you need someone with whom you can share the personal stuff you are going through. It has been great working with Mon for the past three years,” she said, referring to the former commander of an Israeli special forces unit.”
Joshna feels the current generation of Indian squash players needs to play more tournaments on the professional tour to get a sense of where it stands. Anahat Singh is currently the rising star and face of Indian women’s squash, and Joshna believes the teenager can surpass her own lofty achievements.
“She’s already proved herself. She has won some pretty big tournaments. She’s been consistent. She’s, you know, beaten some good players, top players in the world. And yeah, I feel like the only way for her is upwards. And I’m sure she has a long career ahead.”
(Quotes sourced from PTI)
