Dubai: Dubai-based Maaz Khatri has set his eyes on participating in more domestic squash tournaments in the UAE in an attempt to enhance his experience and exposure in the sport.
Khatri, an Australian citizen, recently returned from Down Under with the 2016 Australian Junior Squash Open title in the boy’s under-17 category.
Hosted by Squash Australia, Khatri won 11-7, 4-11, 11-3, 11-7 against top seed Peter Nuttal in the annual ranking tournament held in Davenport, Tasmania. That result has seen the youngster being selected for the Australia under-17 squash squad.
Born in Dubai, the Khatri family shifted to Australia in 2009. Competing in their adopted country, Maaz and his younger brother Saad were at the top of the rankings in their age groups in South Australia and went on to represent South Australia in its junior development squad.
The Khatris relocated back to Dubai in 2012 where the brothers continued pursuing their squash careers under the watchful eye of the experienced coach Abbas Khan.
Though pleased with his performance and form, Khatri is convinced he has to take the next step forward while trying to achieve his life goal of gaining a top-ten world ranking.
However, he realises that such a goal can only be achieved through sheer hard work and match practice.
“I need tournaments and I need hard training, and with these two I know I can really make an impact,” Khatri told Gulf News.
“I have been training with my coach [Abbas Khan] six times a week at various venues in Dubai, and now I feel I am ready to participate in at least a few tournaments within the UAE. But I will leave this entirely to my coach,” he added.
Along with younger sibling Saad, the Khatri brothers have made a name for themselves on the junior squash circuit in Australia. In 2014, both did well in their age groups at the Oceania Junior Squash Championships to subsequently earn their Australian Team uniforms.
With such consistency, the older Khatri has inked his next priority in the form of the Australian Junior Squash Championships to be held at the Thornleigh Squash Centre, Sydney, in September-October.
“My eventual dream is to get a world ranking. That would be like the final frontier for me in squash. But to reach that goal I need to work hard, train hard, make a few sacrifices along the way and the success at tournaments will eventually follow,” he said.
“My coach keeps telling me that I have the talent to be among the best squash players in the world. He believes in me, and it is now up to me to prove him right,” Khatri added.
