Ritwik Bhattacharya trains tribal kids for junior nationals

Chennai : Former national squash champion Ritwik Bhattacharya is on a mission, so to say. The five-time national champ, who reached a high of 38 on the PSA World Tour ranking, is training tribal children at his academy near Mumbai. Trainees at Bhattacharya's academy in Mokashi, a village that is about 70 km from Mumbai, will be taking part in the junior nationals, which begins here on Thursday.

The academy - Squash Temple and Real Training (START) trains over 150 children from in and around Mokashi village, a press release said. It will be the first time that some of the trainees at the academy, all from tribal families, are travelling in a flight and participating in the nationals, the release added.

Several of the village kids will take part in the upcoming junior nationals, as they did last year, and they are being put through their paces by Bijali Darvada, who was among the first children from the village to take up the game. Darvada, 19, finished in the last 16 at the national championships held earlier this year. The 40-year old Bhattacharya is confident that it won't be too long before a national champion emerges from the academy