NEW DELHI, August 22, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
Highest number of entries with participation from top national players like Joshna Chinappa, Saurav Ghosal and several others
HCL, a leading global conglomerate, today announced the launch of HCL 74thNational Squash Championship. The main draws will be held from August 23-26, 2017 at the Shiv Nadar University, Greater Noida. The Championship is part of HCL's efforts to promote Squash in the country and create platforms that allow the country's talented players to hone their skills. The Championship will witness participation from over 550 players across categories, which is the highest number for any squash tournament in the country, till date.
(Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/547511/HCL_National_Squash_Championship.jpg )
This seven-star Championship, which is considered as the highest rated tournament, will be organised under the aegis of the Squash Rackets Federation of India (SRFI) and the U.P. Squash Rackets Association. The Championship will be open to both, men and women in separate categories. Matches will also take place in other categories including Professional Coach, and over/35, over/40, over/45, over/50, over/55, over/60 for men only. The Championship will follow a knock-out format where top 8 players will get the prize money in men, women and professional coach categories; while only winners and runners-up will be awarded in the six other categories. The top players will receive ranking points and will be included in the National ranking list in the relevant age group.
Arjuna Awardee Saurav Ghosal, India Rank No. 1 and World Rank No. 27 said, "SRFI has been supporting players like me for many year now and I am glad corporates like HCL are also coming forward towards a common goal. Partnerships such as these build a sense of confidence that the future of the sport looks bright in our country. I am sure, serious Squash players will be able to benefit immensely from such platforms."
Joshna Chinappa, India Rank No. 1 and World Rank No. 14 and also an Arjuna Awardee said, "It is a real pleasure to be part of HCL 74th National Squash Championship, which is being organised under the aegis of SRFI. Over the past few years now, the sport has started getting recognized at a national level and that has led to a greater support system being created for players to pursue the sport seriously. Indian players have now started making their presence felt at an international level too which is a significant achievement for this otherwise niche sport. At a personal level, I am looking forward to play my best game and give a tough fight to my talented co-players at this prestigious platform."
Speaking on the initiative, Sundar Mahalingam, Chief Strategy Officer, HCL Corporation said, "With our philosophy of touching people's lives, we at HCL believe in creating a sustainable ecosystem to promote a variety of sports in the country. Squash is one such sport that we have been supporting and we launched our first Junior Squash tournament in December 2016, which was well received by the players. To scale-up our efforts towards the game, we have partnered with SRFI to organize the HCL 74th National Squash Championship this year and have received over 550 entries, the highest till date for this tournament."
Harish Prasad, National Squash Development Officer at Squash Rackets Federation of India (SRFI) said, "It is our pleasure to partner with HCL for the National Squash Championship and I am happy to say that we have found common synergies in this partnership to promote this niche sport in the country. We hope to continue our association with HCL to nurture the talented squash players of our country and provide them with competitive platforms at both national and international level."
Besides the 74th National Squash Championship, HCL will be hosting the second edition of the HCL Junior Squash Championship in December this year.
About HCL
Founded in 1976 as one of India's original IT garage start-ups, HCL is a pioneer of modern computing with many firsts to its credit, including the introduction of the 8-bit microprocessor-based computer in 1978 well before its global peers. Today, the HCL enterprise has a presence across varied sectors that include technology, healthcare and talent management solutions and comprises four companies - HCL Infosystems, HCL Technologies, HCL Healthcare and HCL TalentCare. The enterprise generates annual revenues of over US $7.5 billion with more than 120,000 employees from 140 nationalities operating across 32 countries, including over 500 points of presence in India. For further information, visit www.hcl.com.
Media Contact:
Sadaf Khan
[email protected]
+91-120-4306133
HCL ENTERPRISE
Share this article