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Abhay Singh is an Indian squash player who was a member of the Indian men’s national squash team at the 2022 Asian Games that bagged a gold medal. In 2016, he was the ‘first rank-holder’ squash player in Asia in the boys U19 category.
Wiki/Biography
Abhay Singh was born on Thursday, 3 September 1998 (age 25 years; as of 2023) in Chennai, India. His zodiac sign is Virgo. He attained a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the Guru Nanak College in Velachery, Chennai.
Physical Appearance
Height (approx.): 5′ 9″
Weight (approx.): 75 kg
Hair Colour: Black
Eye Colour: Black
Family
Parents & Siblings
Abhay’s father’s name is Gurmeet Singh.
Career
Abhay started playing squash at the Indian Squash and Triathlon Academy in Chennai at a very young age. In 2019, he made his debut at the South Asian Games held in Nepal, where he bagged a bronze medal in the Men’s singles event. He was also a part of the Indian Squash Men’s Team that bagged a silver medal at the 2019 South Asian Games. In May 2022, he participated in his first Challenger Tour event in Lorient, France, and achieved his maiden win at the PSA World Tour.
According to him, his performance at the selection trials for the 2022 CWG was one of his best performances as he played 4 matches during the trials and emerged victorious in all of them. In July 2022, he made his debut at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games and participated in two events, Men’s singles, and Men’s doubles event. He later went on to win 5 titles on the PSA World Tour in 2022; Archi Factory Open Lorient (Challenger 5 level), Tuanku Muhriz Trophy, Alto Group Pennant Hills NSW Squash Open, 4th HCL SRFI Indian Tour – Chennai Leg, and the 4th HCL SRFI Indian Tour – Jodhpur Leg. In October 2022, he participated in the 36th National Games in Gujarat and bagged a gold medal in both the events, the men’s team event, and the individual event.
Double Gold 🥇🥇 at the 36th National Games in Gujrat ( Men’s Team and Individual )
Happiest day of my life 🥹
Lost for words , nothing to say but just thankyou to my coach Bala and Paul and my biggest supporter @coachcyrus @Media_SAI
What a year 2022 has been so far ❤️ pic.twitter.com/akzZooCszt— Abhay Singh (@abhaysinghk98) October 5, 2022
In November 2022, he was a member of the national team that represented India at the 21st Asian Squash Team Championship held in South Korea, becoming the first-ever Indian Squash team to win the Asian Squash Team Championships.
In December 2022, he made his place in the top 100 squash players with a world rank of 74; in January 2022, he was ranked 144. In December 2022, he participated in the 78th SRFI HCL National Squash Championship hosted by the Tamil Nadu Squash Rackets Association (TNSRA) in Chennai and claimed the Indian National Championship title by defeating S. Velavan in the final. In an interview, he talked about his experience at the National Championship and said,
Winning the Nationals was a dream for me and winning it in my first final is great. It is certainly my biggest win and very special.”
In May 2023, he participated in the PSA World Championship held in Chicago, United States. In 2023, he was a member of the Indian men’s national squash team; Saurav Ghosal, Mahesh Mangaonkar, and Harinder Pal Sandhu were the other members of the team. The team bagged the gold medal at the 2022 Asian Games held in Hangzhou, China; Abhay played a crucial role in bagging this gold as the other members of the team including Mahesh Mangaonkar lost to Nasir Iqbal, which led to Noor Zaman, Abhay’s opponent in the final, being only 2 points away from the title. Abhay won the next two points to tie the scores at 10-all and then secured victory for India by winning the next two points for a 12-10 win in the fifth game.
Relive another golden moment of #TeamIndia 🤩🥇
Indian Squash Team is the numero-uno 🔥🇮🇳#SonySportsNetwork #AsianGames #Cheer4India #Squash #IssBaar100Paar | @Media_SAI pic.twitter.com/vIdDFaDfKt
— Sony Sports Network (@SonySportsNetwk) September 30, 2023
He also participated in the mixed doubles event at the 2022 Asian Games alongside Anahat Singh and bagged a bronze medal.
Awards
In 2023, he was awarded the PSA Challenger Tour Male Player of the Year for the 2022-23 season.
Favourites
- Sitcom: Two and a Half Men
Facts/Trivia
- In his leisure time, he likes to spend time with his parents, grandmother, and friends. It helps him relieve all his stress and play with fresh energy in upcoming matches. He also enjoys playing football in his free time.
- A few activities on his bucket list include skydiving, and swimming with the dolphins.
- Abhay is a foodie and relishes various homemade food items, but he gave up on all his favourite dishes to follow a strict diet and commit to squash fully. In an interview, his father, while talking about Abhay’s dedication to the sports said,
Whenever we used to invite him to join us for outings, he’d always decline, citing his training and coaching commitments. He made numerous sacrifices, and was constantly practising and participating in matches, often away from home and without enjoying homemade food.”
- He uses the racket from the brand Head, an American tennis racket brand.
- He is coached by Baskar Balamurugan of England, and Paul Bell from Scotland. He also received coaching from the late Malcolm Willstrop of England.
- According to him, the toughest punishments in court are Court Sprints, Burpees, and Pushups.
- He walked the ramp at Lakme Fashion Week x FDCI 2023 as a showstopper for the Caprese X Gauri & Nainika show alongside other squash team members.
- In December 2021, he contemplated quitting squash but decided to continue with it when he was selected to represent the Indian team at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. In an interview, he talked about how happy he was that he did not let a particular phase in his life dominate his decision, he said,
Pre-COVID, I was playing the best squash of my life. But during the pandemic, as an athlete I wasn’t able to compete. It was a weird situation. Post-COVID, getting back to sport was not that easy. I struggled with a few results. It just got to a point where I was like if I have given so much to the sport, the least the sport could do was make me happy. And it didn’t. Maybe at that point, if I had walked away it would not have been forever. Maybe at some point I would have tried to come back.”
- According to him, his lucky number is three as the Asian Games was his third senior event for India in 2023, he played 3rd on the night of the finals, and the team won 30/09 exactly 3 nights after they lost to Pakistan in the group stages, and the final match began at 3:30 pm.
fun fact for you all, I’ve played the Asian Junior Team Championships (Hong Kong 2017) , Asian Senior Team Championships (Korea,2022) and Asian Games (China ,2023) all just once and won Gold in all my debuts🥇
3 is my lucky number , guess it did come in handy in China ; The… pic.twitter.com/a1RBQ57Nzn— Abhay Singh (@abhaysinghk98) October 8, 2023
- He has a Golden Retriever pet dog named Thor.
- Abhay lost approximately 20 kgs of his body weight during his teenage years so as to be deemed fit for squash.
- He likes to train twice a day; a squash session in the morning, and a fitness session in the evening. He practises yoga in the afternoon to maintain his flexibility.
- In 2022, he achieved his career-highest ranking of 63 by winning 6 titles at the PSA World Tour.
end of my 22/23 season on the PSA World Tour, winning 6 titles and reaching a career high ranking of 63 was amazing. Not to forget some great memories with Team India in Birmingham and Korea
Thanks for all your love and support ; looking forward to the 2023/2024 season 🙏🏻🤞🏻🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/UGw2DlvvPa— Abhay Singh (@abhaysinghk98) June 3, 2023
- Abhay’s mother is a heart patient and avoids watching him play; she didn’t even watch him play in the finals of the 2022 Asian Games but kept track of the score with the help of his father.