PANAJI
Yeh Goa se aaya hai, kya kar sakta hain? (this boy has come from Goa, what will he achieve?) This was the reaction that Yash Fadte garnered when he entered his first international tournament in 2010. But the Squash champion silenced all his critics by winning the second place in that very tournament. Fadte, who is currently chasing his Olympic dream was down in Goa and spoke at the Clube Tennis de Gaspar Dias, as part of the Centenary Lecture Series to mark the 100th year of the Clube.
“While I was playing my first international tournament in 2010, in Malaysia, there were parents who said things like ‘what could a boy from Goa achieve?’ and they were right, I was a nine-year-old from a small state of Goa and competing against the top players of that time. But eventually, at that tournament, I ended up winning the second spot at the tournament, and now that same parent, is one of my biggest mentors,” said Fadte.
Sharing about how his journey in the off-beat sport, Yash who hails from a family predominantly of cricketers, made his way onto the squash court rather organically. His father Dilip Fadte a Ranji cricket player, introduced Yash to squash when he was seven, and from there he began training and competing at various levels, rising up to the level of one of the top junior players in the country at various points in his career. “I would travel to Bombay every weekend just to train at the Cricket Club Of India, which has a squash court. Though my school was supportive, I had to miss classes often. Once while in higher secondary, when I entered the class the teacher was curious if I was a student there, only after my classmates intervened, the lecturer was convinced that I was really in his class,” Fadte stated, recollecting his memories.
After graduating from University of Rochester in New York, US, on a full scholarship, Fadte now has his eyes set on representing India in the Olympics. “I was never a bright student, but I was fortunate to be scouted by the top universities, including Harvard, just because I was good at a sport. I chose Rochester because they offered a 100% scholarship which is 85,000 USD a year,” said Fadte, He further urged parents to not pressurise their children to do well academically if they are good at some extra-curricular activity, while also emphasising the importance of having a degree to fall back on. Fadte, while in the US, continued to play squash for Rochester and won the player of the year at the college championships for three years in a row. “I was the rookie of the year and in 2025, out of 3,500 colleges in the U.S., I won the Skillman Award for the best athlete of the year,” said Fadte.
Currently training at a premiere academy in Barcelona, interacting with the top players of the game, Fadte shared that he hasn’t received much support from the government. “Through my career, I have learnt that it is futile to depend on anyone beyond your family and well-wishers for support. I had been sidelined for some major government grants. However, I have managed to get sponsors from other sources, which keeps me going and focused on my game,” he concluded.
