Anil Nayar

Anil Nayar is a former squash player originally from India. He was the first Indian player to win the Drysdale Cup tournament in London 1965[1] (then the de facto junior world championship event). He was also a men’s national champion twice in the U.S., in 1969[2][3] and 1970,[4] twice in Canada, once in Mexico and eight times in India.

Early life

Nayar learned to play squash at the Cricket Club of India under the tutelage of coach Yusuf Khan, who later emigrated to the U.S. and served as coach and mentored many other champion players.[5] He would graduate from Harvard University in 1969.[6][7]

Career

After Nayar won the U.S. men’s crown in 1970, the writer Roy Blount Jr. described the Indian’s style of play in a piece he wrote about the match in Sports Illustrated magazine: "Nayar plays Pakistani-Indian style, scrambling helter-skelter all over the court, slapping low-skimming bullets with a racquet held nearly halfway up the handle, returning impossible shots with even less possible shots and, above all, going like crazy all the time."[8] Nayar is widely regarded by fellow Indians who follow the sport as India’s greatest player.[9]

Awards and recognition

References
  1. "Khelshala :: Squashing Barriers". www.khelshala.in.
  2. "Harvard's Nayar Wins U.S. Squash Crown | News | The Harvard Crimson". www.thecrimson.com.
  3. "Sam Howe and Nayar Gain U.S. Squash Racquets Final". The New York Times. 24 February 1969.
  4. "Nayar Triumphs In Squash Finals | News | The Harvard Crimson". www.thecrimson.com.
  5. "US SQUASH | Yusuf Khan Dies at 87". www.ussquash.com.
  6. "Nayar and Thesieres Join U.S. Squash Hall of Fame | US Squash".
  7. "Women's Squash Service Trip to India: Crimson Arrives, Begins Training Sessions: Harvard Athletics - GoCrimson.com". www.gocrimson.com. Archived from the original on 4 January 2012.
  8. Blount, Roy Jr. "A spicy day at Penn". Vault. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  9. "CCI's Western India squash tourney batting unbeaten on 66 - Times of India". The Times of India. 9 November 2009.
  10. "Harvard Varsity Club". www.harvardvarsityclub.org. Harvard University. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  11. "Arjun Award winners for "Squash" | Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports | GoI". Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports | GoI. Government of India. Archived from the original on 17 November 2019.
  12. "Khelshala :: Squashing Barriers". www.khelshala.in. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  13. "Malavika's Mumbaistan: Mumbai boy in US Hall of Fame". Hindustan Times. 25 June 2018. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  14. "US SQUASH | Nayar and Thesieres Join U.S. Squash Hall of Fame". www.ussquash.com. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
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