The primary time Vasundhara Nangare stepped onto the gleaming squash courts of Bombay Gymkhana, she stopped in her tracks. The polished picket flooring shone below the floodlights, the glass again wall glistened, and the ball snapped crisply towards the floor — sharp, exact, and nothing like what she had identified earlier than.

Again dwelling in Kalamb, a small city in Maharashtra’s Dharashiv district, her observe court docket was half the dimensions, floored with uneven stone slabs. Through the monsoon, water seeped in via cracks, leaving slick patches that pressured her to skip observe.

But right here she was, simply 14 years previous, standing on considered one of India’s best courts, making ready to play towards the very best within the nation.

She tightened her grip on the racquet. The thought crossed her thoughts: “That is so totally different.” However one other adopted shortly: “I’ve educated for this. I belong right here.”

Moments later, she stepped ahead and proved it true.

A sport that discovered her

Squash wasn’t presupposed to be part of Vasundhara’s story. It was her elder sister who first dabbled within the sport, travelling often to a village 50–60 kilometres away, the place a bodily schooling instructor had constructed a rudimentary court docket. However when her sister left for her research, the sport slipped away.

For Vasundhara, the true starting got here when a small makeshift court docket was in-built Kalamb.

“I didn’t even know what squash was on the time. However when a small court docket was in-built Kalamb, my father took me there. That’s once I picked up the racquet, and I simply cherished the sport. The ability of hitting the ball, the rallies, the power — it felt totally different.”

Her father, Mukund Nangare, a authorities schoolteacher, remembers the second vividly.

“The court docket was tough, the flooring uneven, the measurements all incorrect. However the first time Vasundhara performed, I might see her eyes mild up. From then, she needed to go day-after-day,” he says.

What started as an off-the-cuff go to shortly was day by day observe periods.

YouTube as a coach

In 2022, solely six months after she picked up the sport, Vasundhara performed her first match in Pune. It wasn’t a nationwide occasion, however a state-level one. For her, it was a large step — the primary time she had travelled exterior her village for sport.

After which got here the shock: she received. “That was once I thought perhaps I might do one thing in squash,” she says, smiling on the reminiscence.

However the victory additionally uncovered the hole. She observed how senior gamers had a health she lacked — their backhand swings, their lobs, their management. Returning to Kalamb, she knew she couldn’t rely solely on her stone-walled court docket.

With no coach on the town, Vasundhara turned to the one instructor obtainable: YouTube.

“I watched movies of senior gamers time and again — easy methods to maintain the racquet, easy methods to transfer, easy methods to hit. At first, it was unimaginable to repeat, however slowly, with observe, I began to get higher.”

Her father usually sat beside her, replaying clips, each of them attempting to decode the sport body by body. It was grassroots teaching in its rawest kind — improvised, self-taught, and pushed solely by starvation.

The coach who noticed starvation

The true turning level got here when Chance2Sports, a grassroots initiative, organised a camp in Kalamb. Among the many visiting coaches was Abhinav Sinha, founding father of SportSkill and Chance2Sports.

“Considered one of my colleagues instructed me, ‘Sir, there are some children from low-income households with potential. It is best to see them,’” Sinha remembers. “I’ve at all times believed that champions hardly ever come from privilege. The cash would possibly, however the starvation doesn’t.”

When he first watched Vasundhara, he observed instantly that her approach was unpolished, however her eyes instructed a special story.

“She was uncooked, however her starvation to study was extraordinary. She didn’t complain, she didn’t ask for excuses. She simply performed, time and again. At her age, that’s gold,” he says.

Abhinav determined to mentor her. With help from his basis’s backers, he started bringing Vasundhara to Mumbai as soon as a month. There she educated on correct courts, learnt structured drills, and gained insights on vitamin and health.

The remainder of the time, she remained in Kalamb, guided remotely by Abhinav through video teaching. “It’s not excellent,” he admits. “Her village court docket is perhaps 40 p.c of what an ordinary court docket ought to be. The ball bounces in another way, the partitions don’t react the identical. However she nonetheless makes it work. That’s the sort of resilience you possibly can’t train.”

A household that carried the dream

Behind her rise are numerous sacrifices at dwelling.

“We didn’t know a lot about squash at first,” says her father Mukund. “Within the village, folks thought it was only for health. However as soon as we noticed her potential, we determined to help her absolutely. Even when it meant travelling, even when it meant adjusting every thing at dwelling.”

Her mom takes cost every time Vasundhara leaves for tournaments. Each mother and father, regardless of being academics with restricted incomes, guarantee she makes her month-to-month journeys to Mumbai. “Each time I see her play, it makes me proud,” Mukund provides. “As a result of we all know how far she has come from the place she began.”

Breaking into the massive league

By 2024, Vasundhara was now not only a village woman with a racquet. She was a competitor. She stormed into the Maharashtra State Open at Bombay Gymkhana, defeating top-seeded gamers. She carried out strongly on the Poona Membership Squash Open and the PSA Challenger Tour in Pune.

After which got here the defining second — the 2025 Below-15 Asian Junior Trials. At simply 13, Vasundhara secured third place, sufficient to say a spot on India’s junior crew.

“It’s a giant achievement,” Abhinav beams. “She even beat worldwide gamers within the plate occasion. And that is only the start. Champions don’t come from privilege; they arrive from starvation. And Vasundhara has that in loads.”

Ask Abhinav what makes her stand out, and he doesn’t hesitate. “She is extraordinarily disciplined for her age. She listens, works arduous, and adapts shortly. She’s not but at peak squash health, however that may come. The muse is stable.”

“The largest lesson she’s learnt is persistence and technique. Squash is not only energy; it’s about outthinking your opponent. That’s what she’s greedy now.”

A dream to play for India’s senior crew

For Vasundhara, the dream is evident. “I need to play on the World Junior Championships after which, on the senior stage for India.”

When she’s not on the court docket, Vasundhara sketches and reads, similar to any teenager. However hand her a racquet, and he or she transforms — now not only a woman from Kalamb, however an emblem of what uncooked dedication can obtain.

She appears as much as squash stars Joshna Chinappa and Ali Farag, however in her personal village, the youngsters already look as much as her. Impressed by her journey, practically 30 children in Kalamb have began enjoying squash on the identical damaged court docket.

Within the evenings, they crowd round, watching her practise. Some attempt to copy her strokes, some simply cheer. In these moments, she isn’t simply a young person chasing her dream — she is proof that champions can rise from wherever.

Edited by Vidya Gowri; all pictures courtesy: SportsSkill and Vasundhara Nangare