Egyptian coach Ashraf el Karagui has joined the Indian squash team (boys and girls) ahead of the World junior championship to be held in Bielsko-Biala, Poland from August 7 to 16.
Ashraf, appointed by the Sports Authority of India to serve Indian squash, had an interaction with the members of the Indian team at the Indian Squash Academy last evening.
This will be the Egyptian coach's first assignment with the Indian squad.
"I had a brief look at them when I had come a month ago and then I have information on them from national coach Cyrus Poncha. So I have a fair idea of what kind of players I have in hand," he said after the first interaction.
Ashraf, who has come to India directly from Egypt, has already seen a big difference between home and here.
"The big advantage of juniors in Egypt is that there are very many of them ready to be noticed. Each of them get to play others and the different experiences from that can be enriching in the road to preparations," he said.
"What is significant, additionally is that the top professionals find time to interact with the youngsters. That can be a solid confidence building exercise," Ashraf added, while indicating why the squash world is usually dominated by the players from Egypt.
However, he sees lot of potential in the boys' section here. The world championship will feature boys' team event.
In fact, Ashraf believes that this group of boys has the capacity to spring a surprise or two in Poland. The boys team's best show was in 2012 when it finished with a bronze.
Poncha, who regularly travelled with the team, will not be doing so this time. Ashraf will have the company of two other officials -- Deepak Mishra and Surbhi Mishra -- both former players at the national level.
The coach said that the target for the boys was podium finish. He believed the team had the strength and depth.
"The boys are all in prime condition and the hope was for a good result," he added.
The individual competitions which follow the team and where the girls would also come in would be lot more tougher for the Indians, considering the standards of Egyptian and English players in particular.
The Championship will have individual events, followed by the team event for boys.
The boys team comprises Velavan Senthilkumar, Abhay Singh, Aditya Raghavan, Ranjit Singh (who will play the team and individuals), Robin Singh and Aryaman Adik (both will feature in singles), while the the girls team features Akanksha Salunkhe, Sunayna Kuruvilla, Adiya Advani, Jui Kalgutkar and Ashita Bhengre.
