Rhamanan seeks to end year on a high

SINGAPORE — He has made huge progress in his professional squash career in 2016, jumping more than 200 places in the world rankings since the start of the year to a current career-high of 176th.

But national squash player Vivian Rhamanan is not done just yet.

The 30-year-old still has unfinished business, as he aims to break into the top-150 in the world by the end of the year.

There is, however, only one more professional tournament at which Rhamanan can rack up the necessary points to achieve this goal: The Old Chang Kee – Marigold Singapore Open, which starts tomorrow at the Kallang Squash Centre.

Rhamanan will begin his Singapore Open campaign on Thursday with a first-round clash against South Korea’s Chang Wook Woo, who is ranked 248th.

But things will only get tougher for Rhamanan should he advance, as he would likely then have to face Malaysia’s Elvinn Keo (world No. 99) in the quarter-finals, before potentially going up against Hong Kong’s Wong Chi Him (No. 90) in the semis.

This is why Rhamanan, who only turned professional a year ago, has set a “realistic target” of reaching the semi-finals — a feat he believes will earn him enough points to break into the top-150 rankings.

“This will be one of the toughest competitions I’ll have participated in, especially as I’ve been handed a very challenging draw,” Rhamanan told TODAY.

“So a realistic target would be the semi-finals, which will hopefully give me enough points to end the year.

“It’s been good training with my team-mates and coach Ibrahim Gul — we’ve been preparing for this tournament a lot, and have done a lot of match-play practice, and I feel confident heading into the Open.”

Rhamanan will be entering the competition on the back of a decent showing at the Minneapolis Open in the United States earlier this month, where he made the main draw after beating Pakistan veteran Mubashir Gul — the brother of his coach, Ibrahim — in the qualifying finals. However, he was then beaten in straight sets by the USA’s Faraz Khan.

During his time in the US, Rhamanan also spent close to two weeks training under Mubashir, who used to coach Malaysia’s former world No. 7 Ong Beng Hee.

But while his training and play have been going well, Rhamanan has been finding things tough financially after his coaching school — the Singapore Squash Academy — lost a long-term client after they could not afford to continue with the academy.

The father of two admits he is worried about his finances, although he is determined not to let this affect him ahead of the Singapore Open.

“The client had to stop the coaching sessions because they lacked the funds, and I haven’t found any replacements yet,” said Rhamanan.

“So I’m still thinking about how I’m going to get the funds in place for the future. I have to find some kind of support, do some more private coaching or something to that effect.

“I’m trying not to worry about this for now, however. I’ll only think about it after the Singapore Open, or I’ll be too stressed and it’ll affect my performances.”

Indeed, this issue has not stopped Rhamanan from dreaming big, as he heads into 2017 with the aim of breaking into the world top-70 rankings.

“I’ve shown quite a bit of progress and determination this year, and proved that age is not a barrier,” he said. “And I’m willing to push myself even more. I’m extremely grateful to all my sponsors, such as Marigold and the Singapore Squash Rackets Association (SSRA), for their help so far, and hopefully I can get more support for next year as I work towards reaching the top-70.” NOAH TAN