Cyrus Poncha is an Indian

squash Squash may refer to: Sports * Squash (sport), the high-speed racquet sport also known as squash racquets * Squash (professional wrestling), an extremely one-sided match in professional wrestling * Squash tennis, a game similar to squash but pla ...

administrator and coach. Born in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

, he is currently based out of

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

, and coaches at the

ICL-TNSRA Squash Academy Indian Squash Academy (also known as ICL-TNSRA Squash Academy) is a squash training facility established by the Squash Racquets Federation of India (SRFI) in Chennai, India. The India Cements was one of the sponsors it had initially sponsored t ...

. Presently, he is the Secretary General of

Squash Rackets Federation of India The Squash Rackets Federation of India or SRFI is the Indian governmental apex body for the game of squash. It conducts the National Squash Championship, and promotes the game through the state level squash bodies, and provides training facilities ...

. He is a

Dronacharya Award The Dronacharya Award, officially known as Dronacharya Award for Outstanding Coaches in Sports and Games, is sports coaching honour of the Republic of India. The award is named after Drona, often referred as "Dronacharya" or "Guru Drona", a ch ...

ee. He was adjudged Asian Squash Federation Coach of the Year six times. He has coached several squash players such as

Joshna Chinappa Joshna Chinappa (born 15 September 1986) is an Indian professional squash player. She reached a career-high world ranking of World No. 10 in July 2016. She was the first Indian to win the British Junior Squash Championship title in 2005 in th ...

Dipika Pallikal Karthik Dipika Pallikal Karthik (née Pallikal; born 21 September 1991) is an Indian professional squash player. She is the first Indian to break into the top 10 in the PSA Women's rankings. Dipika Pallikal came to prominence in 2011, when she won th ...

, Saurav Ghoshal and Velavan Senthilkumar.

Early life and career

Cyrus was born in Mumbai. Cyrus was a nationally ranked junior plater but took up coaching instead of becoming a professional on the squash circuit. However, he started coaching other squash players at the age of 18. He moved to Chennai to work under S. Maniam, a Malaysian coach in ICL-TNSRA Squash Academy in 2000. Soon after, he became the national head coach of Squash Rackets Federation of India (SRFI), which is the governing body of squash in India. In 2005, he was awarded the Dronacharya Award, the highest honour for sport coaches in India by then

Indian President The president of India (IAST: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces. Droupadi Murmu i ...

A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam (; 15 October 193127 July 2015) was an Indian aerospace scientist and statesman who served as the 11th President of India from 2002 to 2007. He was born and raised in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu and studied phy ...

. He has also won the 'Coach of the Year' from Asian Squash Federation award six times in 2016, 2004, 2009, 2012, 2014 and 2016. He has obtained WSF level-III coaching certificate and coached players both the junior squash and senior circuits. Players he has coached include Joshna Chinappa, Dipika Pallikal Karthik, Saurav Ghoshal, Anaka Alankamony, Kush Kumar, Harinder Pal Sandhu and Velavan Senthilkumar among others. Joshna Chinappa and Dipika Pallikal Karthik have won gold in

2014 Commonwealth games The 2014 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a' Cho-fhlaitheis 2014), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014, ( sco, Glesca 2014 or Glesga 2014; gd, Glaschu 2014), was an international multi-sport ev ...

and are in the top 20 of Women's Squash World Ranking. In June 2019, he was elected as the new Secretary General of SRFI. He will hold the position for four years, until 2023.

Awards

, 2005 * Asian Squash Federation 'Coach of the Year' award, 2016, 2004, 2009, 2012, 2014 (as team coach), 2016

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Poncha, Cyrus Living people Squash coaches Parsi people from Mumbai Indian sports coaches Indian male squash players Recipients of the Dronacharya Award Racket sportspeople from Mumbai 1976 births