Just days after the Indian boxing coaches were barred from ringside at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, the squash team has now been left in a lurch as their coach of 10 years - Cyrus Poncha - was a no-show at Glasgow.
The team, which headed for Glasgow on Friday, were surprised to not have Poncha accompany them and still remain clueless on the issue.
Poncha, who was handed the Dronacharya Award in 2005, has been India's number 1 squash coach for a decade, and his absence will surely amount to a big setback for the Indian contingent.
When asked to clarify his absence, Poncha told PTI: "I don't know what has happened. I have no comment to make. All I can say is that I am disappointed at not being with the team." On the matter of if he will visit the team anytime later, he said: "I don't know if I will be going later. Time will tell."
The team is now supported by foreign coach Subramanian Singaraveloo and Padma Shri awardee Bhuvaneshwari Kumari, who are both clueless about the national coach's absence.
One of the players taking part in the event strongly feels that the coach should have travelled with them.
"We don't know why he stayed back but the national coach has to be with the team. There is a lot of administrative work at multi-sporting events, something he has experience of while being there at the last Commonwealth Games (Delhi) as well as the last two editions of the Asian Games (Doha and Guangzhou)," NDTV Sports quoted the player.
"It really would have been great to have Cyrus around. We have spent a lot of time with him and share a good rapport. We are missing him here."
Meanwhile, top player Dipika Pallikal, who seems quite keen on playing at the games this time around - after missing the previous edition in Delhi due to fever - is aiming high and also hopes to win medals in all three of her events.
"It is hard to believe that it will be my first Commonwealth Games. Though I have a long way to go, it already feels that I have been on the road forever," the 22-year old said.
"I think I have a chance in all three events but I don't think about how far I can go and put pressure on myself. In singles, I will have to beat at least four good players to win a medal," she concluded.
