“I don’t think an athlete ever chooses a sport. It’s a sport that chooses an athlete.”
When Ramit Tandon said this about being a squash player, there was a bright smile and a sense of pride in his words. For the 34-year-old, squash entered his life by accompanying his father and watching him play. Today, he is one of India’s top sportsmen, but he owes everything to his father for putting the fire in him to take it up as his profession.
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But even then, the Calcutta man played squash more for fun than anything else.
“I had the opportunity to play this sport because of my father, otherwise I probably wouldn’t know what squash is like a lot of people here. But after you’re exposed to certain things, then at a young age of 5 years, 6 years, it’s not about choosing it or deciding to do it. It’s just something that suits you. You like it more than other activities,” said Ramit, the Ram, today.
“So it wasn’t a deliberate decision for me either, like, ‘oh, I want to be a squash player.’ It was more like, ok, this is fun, let me enjoy my time playing squash. While my friends were playing cricket or football, I spent time on the squash courts and this passion slowly turned into a profession.”
Ramit is now ranked 38th in the PSA squash tour rankings. He is the second highest ranked Indian behind Abhay Singh (World No. 27) and one of the stalwarts leading the country’s squash revolution alongside Joshna Chinnappa, Anahat Singh and Velavan Senthilkumar.
But watching Ramit show off his skills on the squash court almost didn’t happen. In fact, he could have lived a very different life – a life in the world of finance, dealing with balance sheets and the ups and downs of the stock market.
FROM THE COMPANY CODE TO THE SQUASH COURT
Ramit’s love for squash prompted his parents to send him from Kolkata to Chennai to train at the Indian Squash Academy. Amid all the training and trials, one thing that never left Ramita was his education.
“The directive to focus on studies came from my parents. Education, you know, I always believe that India is a very academic-oriented society. Unlike some other countries where you go to England or the US, there’s a place for music, art, sports – it’s given a similar form of respect – but India as a society is more academically driven,” said Ramit.
But despite their strong injunction to focus on his studies along with squash, Ramita’s parents continued to push his path through sports – for which he is grateful.
“I always say this – on your own, you’re not unique, you’re alone. It’s the team around you who sacrifice dreams for your dream, which is very selfless and not easy. As a child, you don’t understand it, but as an adult, you realize what the people around you have done for you,” said Ramit.
Ramit excelled in his studies, which led him to Columbia University in New York, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in statistics. At the time, he was exposed to the strong American college sports structure, but never wanted to go professional.
“I just wasn’t comfortable taking that risk. I looked at my friends, they were all applying for jobs in finance and different fields and that was the norm.”
“Professional sport is obviously a lot more risky than a certain job where your paycheck is guaranteed every month and you live a very settled lifestyle. You have a city you call home, you have an office you go to. It’s not like squash where one day I’m in one country and the next day I’m in another.”
“So at the time I decided to work in finance, I wasn’t comfortable taking that risk,” Ramit said.
So the squash dream seemed to have taken a backseat for the moment. Ramit joined the hedge fund Birch Grove Capital in New York as a financial analyst. He worked hard for several years before the love of squash slowly found its way back into his life. Ramit worked as a financial analyst for several years (Credit: Ramit Tandon)
While he played on the weekends, the excitement of being on the court slowly began to win over his corporate lifestyle.
“Initially, when you start a new job, the learning curve is extremely steep. So for the first year, I learned something new every day. But as time goes on, you start to realize that you’re going to be doing the same tasks over and over again for a long time. And that’s the real world.”
“At the same time, I realized that squash, which I had been doing for 15-20 years, still excited me every time I stepped on the court. A job I had been doing for a year and I was already bored. So I started to realize that maybe there was some connection to the sport that I shouldn’t leave,” said Ramit.
So does he miss the life of a financial analyst?
“I would say I obviously miss parts of what I used to do. Not necessarily the number crunching in finances, but missing the friends and the lifestyle you lived. It’s a completely different life. Wearing a suit and going to the office versus being in shorts running around the squash court.”
“So there are parts of the world that I enjoy and I still follow. I still follow the markets and it’s something I’m interested in. But there are also parts of what I’m doing now that I really enjoy and I’m glad I gave it up to do it,” Ramit said.
SEE THE OLYMPIC DREAM
Although many may say that there is a squash revolution going on in IndiaRamit believes this is largely due to the fact that the sport will be played in the Olympics. It will be squash’s debut at the Los Angeles Summer Games in 2028 and the 34-year-old feels India is riding on that stage.
“We’re just at a stage where Olympic squash is getting more attention than before. Every generation has had strong players. Before Anahat, you had Deepika and Joshna in their prime. Then Sourav Ghoshal, Harinder Pal Sandhu, Mahesh Mangaonkar.”
“India has always been a solid squash country. Maybe not at the very top like Egypt, but consistently in the top five or six. Even today we have four men in the top 50 and strong women players as well,” said Ramit.
The world number 38 is not getting too ahead of himself like most athletes and is now focusing on the 2026 Asian Games. He was part of the bronze medal winning team in 2018 but missed out on the final. Ramit wants to see India host major squash events Credit: Ramit Tandon
Now entering JSW Indian Open 2026 seek redemption.
In squash, the Professional Squash Association (PSA) divides its world events into six tiers based on prize money and ranking points: copper, bronze, silver, gold, platinum and diamond. Copper to Gold events are typically drawn for 24 players, while Platinum events include 32 players and Diamond events expand to 48 competitors. The leaderboard points awarded also increase with each level, starting at 500 points for Copper titles and up to 3100 points for Diamond level wins.
The JSW Indian Open is a Copper event where valuable points are played for. Last year, Ramit was the best Indian player and was in the top 30 in the world. But 2025 was not kind to him as he slipped to 40 in the world and had an infamous exit from the competition.
The Indian Open is a tournament that Ramit enjoys a lot and considers it a game changer in the sport. He also calls for more such events to come to India.
“I think it’s high time India started hosting more events like this. We’ve hosted a lot of smaller tournaments that help at grassroots level, but bringing top players to India is very important.”
“None of our players growing up had the opportunity to watch the best players in the world at the age of 8 or 9 because we didn’t hold events at that level. Now young kids can see the best players compete in India. Their goals go beyond just winning national championships. They will want to compete at the international level. So it’s very important not just for the top players but for the whole squash culture in the country,” said Ramit.
The 34-year-old is self-critical and has realized where he went wrong in a pretty hectic 2025. He says the goal remains to win the crown at the Indian Open in Mumbai from March 18-22.
“Last season I realized that I was too caught up in chasing ranking points and playing too many tournaments. Instead of focusing on solid performances in fewer events, I was competing everywhere. That’s why this year we decided to reduce the tournament load and focus more on quality performances. Last year I went into the Indian Open as the No. 1 seed, this year I’m the No. 3 seed. But if you stay in the top four seeds, you want to win tournament. Ram.
For the Indian star, all roads lead to the big stage of the LA Olympics in two years. While he does his best to keep a straight face and calm his excitement, the same passion for the sport that made him trade his suit and market data is still clearly visible.
“The Olympics is the biggest sporting event on the planet, so anyone who invests time in sports would want to compete there and carry the flag for their country. But at the same time, it’s still two and a half years away. I can’t just have the Olympics as my only goal. Short-term goals lead to that — the Asian Games are the biggest right now.”
“But if you ask me how I would like to end my squash career, it would probably be competing in the Olympics,” Ramit said.
– The end
Published on:
March 13, 2026 09:57 IST
