Mumbai, Jul 22 (PTI) India will look to make home advantage count and win its first-ever gold medal at the FISU World University Squash Championship when the premier university event gets underway here from August 3.
The championship, organised by the International University Sports Federation (FISU), will be hosted at Somaiya Vidyavihar University, marking the first time India is staging the competition.
India, which won a bronze medal in the previous edition in Johannesburg in 2024, enter the tournament with heightened expectations.
“We have home support, but at the same time we have the pressure of winning. Everyone is expecting gold from us and I am expecting that from myself,” bronze medallist Suraj Chand said during the launch of the championship.
Suraj, who is also set to represent India at the Asian Games, said the bronze medal in Johannesburg had boosted his confidence.
“I wasn’t expecting myself to do that well, but coming back with the bronze medal was kind of motivation for me. We are hopefully looking forward to the tournament and winning the gold,” said the India No. 5.
Besides India, teams from Brazil, China, the Czech Republic, Egypt, France, Great Britain, Hong Kong (China), Hungary, New Zealand, Poland, Singapore, South Africa, Spain and Switzerland will compete. PTI COR AH TAP
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