TT's Ramasra Nos 1 in European squash rankings

TT squash player Colin Ramasra. -
TT squash player Colin Ramasra. -

ACCORDING to the latest European Squash Federation Rankings, TT’s Colin Ramasra is now ranked number one in the Men’s 35+ category.

Ramasra’s ranking rose six spots after another successful campaign at the 2020 Portugal Masters Grand Prix where he retained silver on January 19. He is the only athlete from the western hemisphere in the top 100 of this division and leads the standings with 4,389 points. Rounding off the top-three are Jill Witt (Germany) and Kaleemullah Khan (Poland) respectively.

Additionally, Ramasra moved up 11 spots from fifteenth to fourth on the Men’s Overall European Masters Ranking. This ranking contains 1,292 players and is extremely commendable considering Ramasra is unable to compete at the European Masters Individual Championships (only open to Europeans) which carries the most ranking points.

The 35-year old’s surge up the competitive ladder comes after producing four podium finishes during 2019 and early 2020. On his most recent achievement, Ramasra was elated.

“It feels great to be ranked number one in Europe in the Men’s Over 35 category,” he said. “My performances in the four European tournaments have been consistent and very solid despite so many challenges, like having to contend with jet lag and acclimatization. I may be biased but in these tournaments I feel as though I have had some of the toughest draws.”

The experience national player made his European Masters debut exactly one year earlier at the 2019 Portugal Masters Grand Prix. There, an unseeded Ramasra upset the second, third and fifth seeded athletes on the way to the final, before going down to European champion, Heiko Schwarzer (Germany).

In his second European Masters event, the 35-year old again finished as runner-up at the 2019 Italian Squash Masters in September. Seeded fourth in the Men’s 35+, Ramasra topped his group before losing a close five-setter Italian Hamdi Feritim. He then thrashed top seed Austrian Andreas Fuchs 3-0. Unfortunately, Fuchs defaulted his final match with Feritim giving Feritim a 3-0 walkover and denying Ramasra a fair chance at the gold.

He then captured gold at the 2019 Malta Squash Masters in November. He was again seeded fourth, topped his group and then beat the top seeded German 3-0. In the final he defeated Great Britain’s James Wilson 3-0. After winning gold, Ramasra rose to sixth on the European Squash Federation Men’s Over 35 Ranking.

Less than two weeks ago, Ramasra opened his 2020 account with silver at the Portugal Masters Grand Prix, a result which propelled him to pole position in his category.

“The 2020 Portugal Masters was especially stressful, as I knew the significance that my result would have had on my European Ranking. Every match was tough and on top of that I had to deal with a minor illness and injury as the tournament progressed, he added.

The seasoned athlete also acknowledged his fiancée as his lone supporter since he began competing in Europe in early last year.

He concluded, “I was unseeded, no one knew who I was and some people did not even know that TT was a real country. This quickly changed, as by the end of my first European tournament I had become a crowd favourite. My fourth tournament in, I now have somewhat of a following. I am proud to have put TT on the map. I need to especially thank my wife for bringing me back into squash.”

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