Pune's Hridan Shah wins national under-17 squash title; Isha Srivastava takes under-19 bronze

Pune, October 30, 2026: Hridan Shah, a 16-year-old squash player from Pune, won the boys' under-17 title at the Sub-Junior and Junior National Squash Championship held in Jaipur from October 23 to 29. Isha Srivastava, 17, of the I-Squash Academy in Pune, won the bronze medal in the girls' under-19 category at the same championship.

The championship was played at the Rajasthan Squash Academy, located in the Sawai Man Singh Stadium complex in Jaipur. Both Hridan and Isha train at the I-Squash Academy at the Chanchalatai Sandipdada Kodre Sports Complex in Pune.

In the under-17 final, Hridan faced Shiven Agarwal of Tamil Nadu. Hridan won 3-2 to take the national title. The scores in the five-game match were 11-8, 8-11, 11-2, 9-11 and 11-2.

In the girls' under-19 category, Isha reached the semi-finals, where Akanksha Gupta, also of Maharashtra, beat her 7-11, 8-11, 12-14. In the quarter-final, Isha had beaten Vyomika Khandelwal of Tamil Nadu 11-3, 9-11, 11-8, 11-6. That win took her into the last four, and she finished the tournament with the bronze medal.

Thus one player from the academy won the title and another won a bronze medal.

Both players train under coaches Asif Syed, Jainendra Bhandari and Marisha Zilka. Zilka said the results were the outcome of the players' consistent practice, discipline and hard work.

Physiotherapist Kushal Vani looks after the players' physical fitness, injury recovery and overall conditioning. Hemani Tyagi of Prehab-121 is their strength and conditioning coach.

The academy follows a blended approach to training, covering technical coaching, physical conditioning, injury prevention, recovery and mental preparation.

Zilka said the performances were another important step towards producing players who can compete at the national and international levels.