- KPHL Media
- Posted 23 March, 2023
Kumul Petroleum Holdings supports junior squash development!
Youngsters aspiring to be squash champions were at the Port Moresby Racquets Club squash courts today, eager to undergo some professional training.
Kumul Petroleum funding has enabled POMRC to acquire the services of Mr. Raj Nanda to boost their Squash Juniors Development Programme. Based in Melbourne, he will come to Port Moresby twice a year in order to spend time with junior players and also with local club coaches and further develop their coaching skills.
Raj said,” I am looking forward to assist POMRC after witnessing the talent in the Oceania Junior Squash Championships last December.”
Raj is a professional squash player, his highest world ranking was 38, and he won 4 PSA titles, was runner-up in the Colombian Open, winner of the Victorian Open, twice qualified in the main draw of World Open and once qualified for the British Open. He has 15 years of coaching experience in the USA, where he was coach in 8 USA Junior National Championships and head coach of The Hackely School in New York for 12 years.
Raj has Level 2 Coaching Accreditation and Squash Australian Talent Development Accreditation, and been involved in Squash Australia’s Performance Pathway Coaching in 2020 ans 2021. He is currently coach of 6 Australian junior players who have all reached No.1 Australian Junior National Rankings in the past 3 years.
Raj last visited PNG in the early 2000s when he participated in the PSA event held by the then Port Morseby Squash Club. On this trip he will spend over 70 court hours with juniors and elite juniors, 28-30 of whom will be participating in the coaching programmes. One of the principal activities of coach Raj will be preparing the PNG junior squash players for local and regional tournaments taking place during the rest of this year.
Port Moresby Racquets Club President, Tim Kriebisch, appreciates the support from Kumul Petroleum Holdings for the club’s initiatives and noted,” We are priveleged to have such a highly experienced and qualified squash coach to further develop our juniors, elites and club coaches.”
Kumul Petroleum funding has also enabled POMRC to later this year send the most advanced group of four squash juniors to a squash camp at the Daisy Hill Squash Club in Brisbane during the school holidays. This will be an opportunity for them to play with other, possibly higher skilled, juniors and hone their competition skills.
