“There may be people who have more talent than you, but there’s no excuse for anyone to work harder than you do.” - Derek Jeter

Harinder Pal Sandhu from Chennai highlighted India on the World map with his exceptional skills. He is a professional squash player and achieved the career best rank of 56 in September 2015. He started playing professionally in 2005. He is known for his fitness. He won the gold medal in 2014 Asian Games held in Incheon. He represented India in Commonwealth games in 2010.





“Nothing will work unless you do.” – The Story of Dedicated Harinder Pal Sandhu

He was in the limelight when he won gold in 2014 Asian Games in Incheon. From then, he didn’t stop his rally. His stats are one of the finest statistics in Indian history.













Harinder Pal Sandhu was born in Chandigarh. His family shifted to Chennai. In the initial days, he was a cricketer. He was an all-rounder while playing cricket. Later, he got introduced to this game called “Squash” which is an unpopular sport in India compared to other mainstream sports which have a high fan base.





“Squash” is an international sport which is an indoor game. It is played in a rectangular cube. It is similar to tennis but with its specialty in the gameplay. It is known for its unique rules where the play is legal if the ball takes multiple bounds on the walls. It is first played in England in 1830. It is not recognized by the Olympics to be conducted in the tournament. But, preparations are going on and it is expected that Squash will be included by next edition of Olympics.





Start of journey





Harinder Pal Sandhu got introduced to “Squash” in his school. It was part of his curriculum to play and sport. He studied at YPS school Mohali where he has 2 squash courts in it. He started playing squash because it was a new sport to all kids. When he saw a squash court he got excited and started playing squash. He took it as a challenge to learn this game and he achieved it. He started playing “Squash” at the age of 11.





Harinder Pal Sandhu played his first game representing India in World Juniors in Islamabad in the category of U-19. He won 2014 Asian Games gold medal which was conducted in Incheon. He describes the winning moment of 2014 Asian games as his most memorable moment.





Harinder Pal Sandhu had the great support of his parents from childhood. His father was a National Hockey player. He was given the freedom to choose the sport at the age of 8 and from then he was interested in Squash and achieved a lot with the help of his hard work.













Ladder of Success





He is good at managing his studies parallelly to his sports career. He never neglected his studies while building his career. His national team coach is Mr. Ashraf El Karagui. His first coaches were Cyris and Major Manyam. He worked for 11 years in straight with them. He practices for 5 hours daily. He feels, keeping the body fit is the biggest challenge of all when it comes to the sport. David Palmer is Harinder Pal Sandhu’s role model. He has grown up admiring to be him.





Conclusion





Harinder Pal Sandhu is a 28-year-old professional Squash player representing India. He is recognized for winning a gold medal in 2014 Asian games. He is complemented from the best players in the world that one day he will get into top 10 ranking. His aim is to be the world champion in squash.