Rai-led team gear up for Worlds

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The racquetball squad Ashish Mehta (from top left), Venkat Vejju, Nirup Shetty and captain Sathwik Rai.

While the world is mesmerised by the sporting spectacle in London, a representational Indian racquetball team comprising Sathwik Rai, Venkat Vejju, Ashish Mehta and Nirup Shetty are busy preparing for the 2012 International Racquetball Federation World Championships, to be held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, from Saturday.

The quartet earned their spots in the squad with brilliant displays over two qualifying rounds among India’s best players in Albuquerque, New Mexico and Saint Louis, Missouri.
Having been in a good form throughout this year, the Rai-led Indian team are looking to better their performance from the 2010 Worlds held in Seoul, South Korea, where they won two medals in the white divison. In their maiden appearance two years ago, India finished 13th out of 25 countries in the overall men’s team standings while the doubles team of Srikaran Kandadai and Raaj Mohan bagged a silver medal in the individiual doubles white division.
Now, under the watchful eyes of coach Dave Schwent, who has played the sport for more than three decades, the Indian players have been looking to combine power with strategising to take on the tough challenge in Santo Domingo.
Moreover, the individual members of the team have won various events across the US.
While Vejju emerged victorious in the men’s ‘A’ division at the Rainier Open, Washington, Shetty won a bronze medal in the ‘A’ division in his first United States Racquetball Association tournament — the Kansas State Open, held in Overland Park, Kansas in April.
In the squad, they are joined by Mehta, who won the men’s age 24+ singles event at the 2011 USA Racquetball Regional Championships. Skipper Rai, too, has been in good form after having registered his first ever win in an IRT Pro Tier 5 level match at the Kansas Fireworks Shootout in June 2012.
All geared up for his second World Championships, Rai was optimistic about his team’s chances at the competition.
“We have a talented team capable of etching out victories. We have all trained really hard despite having demanding full time jobs to qualify for this prestigious event and if we play to our potential, I am confident we should win some medals for the country in some of the divisions,” added Rai.