Herald: Tell us about the US Junior Open Squash Championship which you won recently and made the State proud?
Yash Fadte: It was one of my most memorable tournaments. Seeded No. 8, I defeated the No.1 seed from England Lewis Anderson 3-2 and later went on to down No.3 Abdelrahman Dweek (3-2) from Egypt. In the final, I trashed Ayush Menon 3-1 from USA, who was seeded No.2, and was the top junior in USA.
Herald: Whom do you dedicate this success to?
YF: I would like to dedicate this success to my mom, dad and my twin brother. They are the ones behind the scene, who are helping me day and night in every way possible for me to improve my game.
Herald: Who is your coach and how do you train and where?
YF: I don’t have a coach. My dad himself is my coach although he never played much of squash but he is a very knowledgeable with regards to the sport. My family background is completely cricket. My dad Dilip Fadte was a Goa Ranji player, besides my uncle too played cricket for Goa and my twin brother Om plays for Goa U-16. I have been given membership at the cricket club of India, Mumbai which has a squash court, so I travel every Saturday to Mumbai to train and come back on Sunday.
Herald: How hard did you work for the tournament?
YF: My Preparations for a tournament always begin well in advance. I’m mostly in Mumbai for training before a tournament if not, I’m in Goa and work on my fitness with Malcolm Rodrigues, who is fitness trainer at the Gym at Zuarinagar.
Herald: You are first player from the State to win the prestigious championship? How is the feeling?
YF: The feeling is something that can’t be expressed in words. Just before I got on court on the final day, I was only thinking about wining as I could script my name into history books of Indian Squash.
Herald: What made you take up the racquet besides other sports?
YF: After my dad retired from cricket he played squash with his friends for fitness, and since the age of seven I used to go along with him and watch him play. Everyone in my family expected that I would take up cricket, but one fine day I told my dad that I would like to play the sport and since then my journey began.
Herald: What are you ranked in the country?
YF: I’m currently ranked No.2 in the country but in the year 2014, I was ranked no.1 which was my golden year. I played 13 tournaments in that year of which I won 11 and came 2nd in the other two which included four international tournaments.
Herald: How do you choose a tournament?
YF: I play about 10 to 12 tournaments in a year, out of which most of the tournaments are overseas wherein I represent the country.
Herald: Do you use any kind of mental strategies when you’re preparing for a big match?
YF: I have always believed that you should never stress yourself before a match. In order to accomplish, I meditate before I go to the court and also analyse my game mentally which indeed helps a lot.
Herald: What is your ultimate goal in squash?
YF: My ultimate goal is to be keep playing for my country as long as I can and bring laurels for the country.
Herald: Since you succeeded in taking up Squash what advice would you give to the youngsters who want to take up squash as career like you?
YF: Squash has given me everything in my life that I have hoped for and I hope that I get success in future as well. It is not so easy to succeed unless and until you work hard with dedication and give your 100 per cent. Hard work pays off at one stage or the other.
Herald: What are your future plans?
YF: I have been getting offers from the top universities in the US such as Harvard, Yale, Princeton, University of Pennsylvania, Cornell, Etc. But would surely love to keep playing squash for the country and see myself at the top level.
