Meet the UP Coach Training 300+ Squash Players & Creating Champions From Small Towns

“My father taught me that if you set out to do something, you must do it with complete dedication, or not at all,” says Abhinav Sinha (35), his voice calm yet unflinching. “In sport, you cannot do things half-heartedly. If you choose the path, you walk it with absolute intent.”

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Prayagraj, his hometown, mirrors that belief in many ways. The city sits at the confluence of the Ganga and Yamuna, shaped by centuries of faith and routine. Ancient ghats (riverfront steps), narrow lanes, and the steady rhythm of life by the river framed Abhinav’s childhood.

Born into a family of lawyers, discipline and expectation were part of daily life. The assumption was clear. Education, stability, and a respected profession would define his future. Sport, especially squash, did not feature in that plan. There were no squash academies in the city and no formal coaching pathways.

Fast-forward to today, and Abhinav has trained over 300 athletes, supported multiple national champions, and built a pipeline of talent emerging from tier-2 towns across India.

Through Chance2Sports Foundation, which he co-leads with Chetan Desai, and SportsSkill, a tech-enabled platform created to support the foundation’s athletes, Abhinav is widening access to a sport long seen as exclusive. Hunger, discipline, and consistency matter more here than privilege or postcode.

When frustration turns into partnership

The partnership between Abhinav and Chetan grew out of shared frustration with the Indian sports ecosystem.

“Chetan and I came together because we were both experiencing the same problem from opposite ends,” Abhinav says. “I was coaching athletes and trying to track progress through Excel sheets, while international academies were recording and analysing every session in detail. I knew we were missing critical information.”

Abhinav began thinking about sport differently. “Sports demand structured thinking, constant learning, and adaptation,” he says. That mindset led to systems that could scale.

Chetan, a co-founder of SportsSkill, brings 50 years of experience in tennis, as well as operational expertise across sports management, FMCG, and media. Together, they built SportsSkill as a platform to track, record, and guide athletes selected under Chance2Sports.

SportsSkill is free for all athletes supported by the foundation. It is used to log training, upload match videos, track progress, and share personalised feedback. It was built not as a standalone product, but as a tool to strengthen the mentoring ecosystem under Chance2Sports.

Striking a balance between loss and responsibility

Abhinav’s father passed away while he was still in school, leaving a void that shaped his early years. Sport became the one constant holding his life together. Noticing this, his mother and elder brother, Ambuj Sinha, stepped in without question.

“I was only playing; they were the ones arranging everything,” he tells The Better India. Travel, entry fees, equipment, and logistics turned into shared family efforts. “We did not have much, but they made sure I reached the tournament, no matter how far it was,” he says.

Every competition required planning and sacrifice. Sport was never treated as a distraction. It became a commitment the family carried together.

In 2009, while studying in Pune, Abhinav became the first player from his city to compete at both the Asian Junior Championships and the World Junior Championships.

“That was my first serious exposure to what real squash looked like,” he recalls. “The level was far ahead of what we had back home, and it opened my eyes completely.”

Competing internationally revealed gaps he could no longer ignore. India had talent, but little structure. Coaching pathways felt uneven. Training around fitness, nutrition, and mental strength lacked consistency. The gap between promise and performance stood out clearly.

That realisation stayed with him and slowly grew into a long-term vision.

Choosing uncertainty over comfort

After graduating, Abhinav took up a hedge fund role in 2013. It promised stability, a clear career path, and a strong income, much like what was expected in a family rooted in law.

Yet the work never sat comfortably with him. “Financially, it was sensible,” he says with a laugh. “But it was not about money. I did not want to spend the rest of my life saying, ‘I could have tried.’”

In 2014, he stepped away and returned fully to the sport. He travelled extensively, competing in Professional Squash Association (PSA) tournaments and learning from coaches across countries.

Australia stood out. “They were doing everything differently, whether it was fitness, match preparation, or mental work,” he says. “It was a culture of excellence.”

By 2016, coaching became his full-time focus. National titles followed in 2019 and 2020 in the Coaches’ Category, but recognition never shaped his direction.

“If a system does not exist, you build it,” he says.

Planting the seeds of Chance2Sports

Abhinav began by coaching small groups of children from humble backgrounds in Pune. His first initiative, Rolling Nicks Sports Foundation, turned Thube Park into the city’s first free squash court.

By 2022, the work evolved into Chance2Sports Foundation, co-founded with Chetan Desai.

“Children from tier-2 towns or modest homes don’t lack talent,” Abhinav says. “They lack exposure, structure, and someone to believe they deserve world-class training.”

The system is built on mutual respect. “Nothing is free. They earn it through their dedication and hard work,” he explains. Athletes receive support with training, travel, and competition, alongside guidance from senior figures in Indian squash.

Today, Chance2Sports supports around 20–30 athletes from regions such as Pune, Kalamb, Aurangabad, and Assam. The foundation is supported by individual sports professionals, including Deb Kanga, Navan Pandole, Anil Nayar, and Chetan Mehrotra.

“Depth matters more than numbers,” Abhinav says. “These athletes are our proof of concept.”

His coaching philosophy rests on building the whole athlete. Fitness, nutrition, mental conditioning, and discipline sit alongside technique.

“If you want to produce champions, you must train the human being,” he says.

Since 2017, athletes from his system have won several national titles. Many of these have come from girls.

“Seven national titles, all by girls,” he says, smiling. “I am lucky to have worked with such driven young women.”

Every session has a purpose

Anika Dubey was 10 years old when she joined Abhinav’s programme in 2021. She already played squash, but something felt incomplete.

“I wanted to take my game to the next level,” she says. “I had the base, but I needed sharper technique and proper movement.”

One match early in her training stayed with her. She found herself two games down against an older opponent.

“I did not think I could come back,” Anika recalls.

At that moment, Abhinav simplified the task. “He told me, ‘Win this game. Do not think of the match. Give everything to this one game.’”

She did. And the shift was immediate.

“Every session has a purpose,” she says. “He focuses on precision and movement quality. He teaches discipline, how to face challenges, and how not to be scared. He is a mentor more than a coach.”

That focus extends far beyond city courts.

In Kalamb, a small town in Maharashtra, cousins Viraj and Vedant (both 10 years old now) began training at the age of seven.

“When they started playing squash, neither they nor we knew much,” their family says. “Coach Abhinav taught them proper technique, fitness, and movement. Basically, everything.”

Training soon became structured. “He makes us upload videos, write what we learnt, and track our training,” Viraj says.

SportsSkill plays a central role here. Athletes upload videos, receive feedback, and follow personalised modules. Abhinav coaches some athletes directly, while others receive regular guidance through recorded analysis.

“Technology should shrink the distance between talent and guidance,” he says.

SportsSkill today serves over 300 active users across 10–12 cities, with more than 1,000 downloads. “It allows me to coach at scale without losing personal connection,” Abhinav says.

Today, both Viraj and Vedant are ranked in the Top 8 nationally in the under-11 category.

“I never imagined we could compete like this,” Vedant says.

Anika trained in Pune. Viraj and Vedant trained in Kalamb. Different courts, different starting points. What connected them was the routine. Sessions were structured. Guidance was consistent. Over time, the results began to show.

Building cities, not just athletes

The same approach began shaping entire training environments.

When Abhinav arrived in Pune, only a select few juniors played squash. By 2018, more than 200 children were actively playing the sport, with 50–100 competing at national tournaments.

At the Cricket Club of India in Mumbai, his work followed a similar pattern. Between 2016 and 2019, he coached 10 juniors into the national top 10.

“I wanted the whole city to grow,” he says. “Not just a handful of athletes.”

Beyond tournaments and rankings, he cultivated a culture where the sport became a community.

Learning to lift each other up

As the number of players grew, Abhinav focused on responsibility.

“When you give young athletes proper exposure, their confidence changes completely,” he says.

When Anika won prize money for an Asian medal, his advice surprised her. “Spend 95 percent on yourself. Give five percent to the next generation.”

“He wants us to understand responsibility,” Anika explains. “Not charity. Just responsibility.”

Viraj’s father noticed the shift early. “They understand now that helping others is part of becoming better players,” he says.

The future of Indian squash

The landscape today looks far brighter than when Abhinav began. Squash is in the Olympics, likely in India’s Commonwealth Games, and grassroots tournaments span dozens of cities.

“The next 10 years will be very exciting,” he says.

Looking ahead, his attention stays on early development. “Fitness, motor skills, nutrition, and basic movement must begin between the ages of five and 10. If you get the fundamentals right, success becomes possible.”

For Abhinav, the larger purpose remains unchanged.

“My job is not to make every child a champion,” he says. “It is to make sure their years in sport are not wasted.”

Across cities and small towns, that approach is taking root.

“I never imagined this opportunity,” Vedant says. “I just wanted to play, but now I see where I can go.”

Anika echoes the sentiment. “Abhinav sir taught me more than squash. He taught me life. I will carry the learnings with me always.”

All pictures courtesy Abhinav Sinha