5 players to look forward to in the next 10 years

In the past 12 months or so, Indian squash has seen a rapid rise. The reignition began in September 2014 when the Indian squash players won a combined tally of 4 medals and finished only behind China in the standings.That performance seemed to have rubbed off on the juniors who did brilliantly at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Samoa where they won a medal each in the Singles as well as the Mixed Doubles.Along with them, there have been several other youngsters who have certainly risen the hopes with regards to the next generation of players who would bring laurels to the country.Here are 5 youngsters to look forward to in the next decade:NOTE: While there is no doubting these five have a bright future ahead of them, there are others as well who are equally capable of bringing laurels. The likes of Sandeep Ramachandran, Aryaman Adik, Adya Advani etc. have also been doing well and need to be kept an eye out for as well.

#5 Vijay Kumar

Ever since he finished 41^st at the British Junior open last year, Vijay Kumar has shown rapid improvement in his performances in almost every tournament that has followed. The Jaipur-born player finished second at the ISA Junior Open that followed and then clinched the Bhavan Hastimal Open after that.

A minor blip at the World Junior Open didn't come in the way of him continuing to put in impressive performance in the competitions that followed as he reached at least the quarterfinals in every event that followed and also sealed the Jaipur Junior Open in 2014 and also then finished runners-up in the National Junior Championships in the U19 category.

2015 has been a good year for him in terms of reaching finals where he has stumbled a bit, but his consistent showing in tournaments is certainly hat warming and he is definitely one to look out for in the future.

#4 Akanksha Salunkhe

One of the most consistent performers in the junior circuit, Akanksha Salunkhe finished as the runners-up at the National Junior Championships in 2014 in the Under 17 category and then won the Western Indian Junior Open title in the same month.

A blip in the British Junior Open followed the two good performances, but the Goa-based player bounced back in fine fashion at the ISA Junior Open, where she won the title in Under 17 category and then backed that with yet another title win at the NSCI Junior Open, where she won in the Under 19 category.

Salunkhe reached the quarterfinals of the Asian Junior Individual Championships but followed that with three back-to-back titles at the Jaipur Ope, the Indian Junior Open and National Championships in the U17 category.

While the road to big time success may be a long one, there is a no doubting that Salunkhe has it in her to bring laurels to the country in bigger international events in the future as well.

#3 Abhay Singh

Among the most consistent players in the circuit and currently ranked number one in the rankings in the Boys U19 category, Abhay Singh is another of those to loo forward in the future. Over the course of the last year, he had finished in the top 4 in all competitions and in July earlier this year, he won the Bengal Junior Open title in the U19 category and then backed that up with Jaipur Junior Open title in September.

September proved to be a much more fruitful year for the Indian, who won the Bombay Gymkhana Maharashtra Open title and then clinched yet another title in the state of Rajasthan, this time winning the Indian Junior Open in Jodhpur.

Abhay finished as a quarterfinalist at the National Junior Championships and one can hope for this Tamil Nadu player to scale even greater heights in the near future.

#2 Harshit Kaur Jawanda

Harshit Kaur Jawanda(purple) is certainly one for the future

Among the most promising women players in the country, Harshit Kaur Jawanda is certainly one to look out for in the coming years. The Delhi-based player clinched the ISA Junior Open in 2014 in the Girls U19 category and then finished runners-up at the Pioneer Junior Open in 2014.

Further success came her way in November last year when she won the National Junior title in the Girls Under-19 category. The start of this year saw the youngster finish runners-up in the ISA Junior Open.

However, the year got better for the youngster when in Ausgust she clinched the mixed doubles silver with Velavan Senthilkumar at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Glasgow and then carried that form into the Singles by winning the National Juniors title in the Girls U19 category.

At present Indian squash is blessed to have two players at the international level in the form of Dipika Pallikal and Joshna Chinappa. Hopefully, in the coming few years, Harshit Kaur Jawanda can join them and complete the trio.

#1 Velavan Senthilkumar

Velavan Senthilkumar has performed exceedingly well in the Junior circuit

Perhaps the brightest talent in the U19 category, 17-year-old Velavan Senthilkumar has been putting in impressive performances in many tournaments in India and around the world. The Tamil Nadu player who is currently second in the rankingswon the Indian Open Juniors last year and since then has not looked back.

He won his maiden National Junior Championships title last year in the Under-17 category and then rounded the year off with a win at the Western Indian Junior Open.

2015 saw further success come his way as he started off the year with a win at the British Junior Open and then won at the ISA Junior Open before clinching the silver medal in the Singles event at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Samoa and the bronze in the Mixed Doubles category with Harshit Kaur Jawanda in the same event.

After returning from the Games, Velavan won his second consecutive national junior title, this time in the Under-19 category. The left-hander has shown a lot of promise up till this point and if remains injury-free and maintains good levels of consistency, he could well be Indias next big champion.

Edited by Staff Editor