At forty and in his seventh Asian Games, Joshna Chinnappa is taking it one day at a time

Her record seven appearances at the Asian Games have yielded six medals, but Indian squash star Joshna Chinappa has no plans to slow down, even if she admits she is a little surprised by her own longevity. Barely 10 days after turning 40, Joshna teamed up with Velavan Senthilkumar to secure a mixed doubles medal in the ongoing Asian semifinals.

Joshna, who made her debut at the 2002 Asian Games in Busan, surpassed fellow squash player Saurav Ghosal, who retired last year after playing the continental multi-sport event six times.

Highlights from Day 6 of the Asian Games

Careful training, meditation and breathing exercises allowed Joshn to not only stay active, but always be a serious competitor.

“Obviously I feel great, I’m playing in my seventh Asian Games. I didn’t think I’ll be playing my seven Asian Games here like people say,” the Chennai player told PTI in an exclusive interaction after her quarterfinal match on Court No. 6 at the Nagoya Kinjo Futo Arena.

“I train hard, five to six hours a day with different training sessions, five or six days a week. I feel very lucky to still be healthy, still fit and still playing for India. I honestly just take it one day at a time.”

And this is precisely why he prefers not to set long-term goals.

“To be honest, I don’t really have any goals. Right now I’m just happy playing for India, playing in the Games. I haven’t thought about the future, what’s next, none of that. I’m really just thinking about the present,” she said.

Joshna said her longevity is also due to a dedicated team that takes care of her every need, be it training or nutrition.

“I have a very good fitness trainer, a psychologist, a trainer. So I have a whole village of people. My nutritionist, my dietician, everybody. They help me play every day. I also meditate a lot. I do a lot of breathing exercises. All of that,” she said, giving a glimpse into the routine that keeps her going.

The mixed doubles medal will be her sixth medal at the Asian Games. He already has two silver and three bronze medals at the continental event.

She won bronze in singles in 2018, team silver in 2014 and 2018, and team bronze in 2010 and 2022.

HUNT FOR THE MISSING GOLD

The gold from the Asian Games is still missing from her cabinet. She has won gold at the World Championships, Commonwealth Games and Asian Championships in various events.

“It’s incredibly difficult to win gold at the Asian Games. Some of the best players in the world are from Asia. So after the Olympics, the Asian Games is probably one of the toughest squash games for us. And of course, winning gold is special at any Games.”

“So winning gold at the Asian Games would be special. But right now I’m just taking it one game at a time.”

When asked if she had to make adjustments to her training regimen as she got older, Joshna said, “As you get older, you know, your body isn’t the same…once you get past 35, I felt like I had to change my training a lot.

“Obviously I can’t train like I used to. It’s obviously very controlled now. I’m doing a lot in the gym, a lot, making sure my body is ready for the next training session.”

“Because obviously it doesn’t recover like it used to. I mean, I feel better today than when I was younger. But I still feel like it takes a lot more effort to play today.”

Joshna last won the PSA singles title in October last year. She said she will continue to play singles.

“I still play singles. Doubles is only during the Games, which is once every four years. And of course we play world doubles, but that hasn’t happened in a long time. So I’m mostly a singles player.

“And doubles is just when, you know, we come together to win a medal.

Squash will make its debut at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles and Joshna hopes an Indian will win a medal.

“I think first of all it’s amazing, it’s about time squash was in the Olympics. And of course we have such a young, amazing group of players from India who have the potential to make it to LA 2028.”

“And in two years they’ll be a lot stronger, a lot more at the top of their game. So I definitely think one of them could definitely win us a medal.”

– The end