Pandole passion

He’s just turned 12 and his on court skills make him a serious contender in junior squash. At the MSSA (Maharashtra School Sports Association)-Nike Fourth Inter-School Squash Tournament 2008-09 in November, Yohan Pandole created for himslef a steady passage forward, losing to top seed Abhimanyu Shah in the final in the Under-13 (U-13) category. "My drop shot is strong, I need to improve the drive. Squash is good fun. I enjoy the competition,” says the youngster who is in the sixth standard at Bombay’s well-known Cathedral and John Connon High School which encourages its students to combine sports and academics.

Pandole trains at the Cricket Club of India (CCI) and the Bombay Gymkhana. At the 33rd Bombay Gymkhana-HSBC Maharashtra State Open Squash Championship at the Gymkhana courts in September and the 65th CCI Western India Open Squash Tournament 2008 in November, Pandole ran into some tough opposition, losing in the semi-finals in U-13. He also played in the Junior National Squash Championship in Madras in October/November, losing in the quarters.

The year 2007 had been an eminently successful one for the youngster. At the Junior Nationals in Ajmer, Pandole picked up the title in the U-11 category and was later felicitated along with other winners by Harshvardhan Patil, chief patron, Indian Squash Professionals, and then minister for Women and Child Development and Parliamentary affairs in the Maharashtra cabinet. Pandole also won The Little Masters Junior Squash Tournament in September 2007 in U-11, as well as the Maha-rashtra State Open 2007 in the same category.

Yohan Pandole: Continuing squash traditions

"Yohan Pandole: Squash in his DNA” wrote Prosquash, a leading squash magazine in its October 2007 issue, presenting a brief interview with the lad. "I played tennis before starting squash a few years ago. My dad Darius inspired me…by telling me about his playing days. He was the Indian junior national champion three times. My grandfather Dinshaw and uncles Farokh and Jehangir were also nationally ranked players. Grandpa played for India,” Yohan told the magazine.

With four generations having played the game at the national level, squash is the family sport of the Pandoles, states the DNA (Daily News and Analysis), November 24, 2008, describing how Dinshaw’s father Pheroze, who was a former national boxing champion, took to squash in his late 30s, as he felt at home on the wooden floor of the squash courts as much as in the boxing ring and went on to become the national veteran squash champion! Later, among other achievements, his son Dinshaw represented India at the World Amateur Championship in the mid 1960s while another son Naval, who is the secretary of squash at the CCI, won the national veteran title. Naval’s son Rishad was also three times national junior champion and captained the Indian team at the World Junior Championship in 1992, the paper states. "It is not important what the Pandole family has done for squash. In fact, all of us find it important to contribute to the sport. My son and nephew coach youngsters when they have the time, while I try my bit as the secretary of squash at the CCI,” the DNA quotes Naval.

Yohan’s mother Ana-hita is a well-known obstetrician and gynecologist, father Darius is a partner at New Silk Route Advisors Private Limited and is one of the early entrants in the private equity business in India. While doing his BA (Economics) from Harvard in the mid ’80s, Darius had earned renown as Harvard’s leading squash player and had won several titles for the prestigious US university.

Besides Yohan, Prosquash mentions other players playing on the competitive circuit — Ness Billimoria, Cyrus Vakil, Cyrus Sidhwa, Behram Modi, Jehangir Khambatta, Jehangir Surti, Yohan Surti, Shane Dhondy, Jeshad Dumasia…