PANAJI
Goa's Yash Fadte has become the first player from India to win the prestigious US Junior Open Squash Championship. The 16-year-old boy from Vasco defeated US No. 1 Ayush Menon
11-8,1-11,11-6,11-8 in the boys U-17 finals in Connecticut, to achieve the historic feat and put Goa on the world squash map. His parents Dilip and Geeta are overjoyed with Yash's outstanding progress and tremendous hard work, as he trained with determination to win the US title. There were a total of 128 participants in the boys under-17 category.
Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar and Sports Minister Babu Azgaonkar have congratulated Yash on his stupendous performance. Accolades keep pouring on the social media with congratulatory messages on Yash's Facebook page, also hailing the contribution of his parents.
"We are all excited. I never expected he will win one of the top most tournament in the world. He has trained very hard for last five months and I am delighted with his success. Overall though, Yash has worked very hard since the last seven to eight years. Despite having no support from the government, I did not allow that (lack of sponsorship) to come in way of Yash's passion. I have built an independent court for Yash spending money from my pocket," said Yash's father Dilip Fadte.
Dilip also added that he does not mind government's support coming in now that Yash has made the big breakthrough by winning one of the most prestigious tournament in the world. "I want Yash to play for India, although Universities including those in USA are looking to snap him. If the government want to approach us, they are welcome," said Dilip, whose brother Namdev was unlucky not to play cricket for Team India due to lack of support. Dilip also called on Chief Minister Parrikar to see that youngsters like Yash get support when they need it the most with sports-friendly approach at the grassroots level.
Earlier, Yash came through a gruelling semi-finals against Abdelrahman Dweek, with a tremendous fightback 6-11,6-11,11-4,11-5,11-9. In the quarter-finals, Yash had defeated top-seed Anderson Lewis 11-13,11-3,5-11,11-5,11-6, in a close contest. In the third round, he defeated Maxwell Orr 11-6,11-5,11-8.In the pre-quarters,he defeated Sharaf Mohammad 11-8,13-11,11-5.
Yash's next target will be to do his best at the British Junior Open 2018 in Birmingham-England from January 3-7.
