Ramit Tandon: From finance job to chasing Olympic squash dream
“I don’t think an athlete ever chooses the sport. It’s the sport that selects the athlete.”
When Ramit Tandon said this about being a squash player, his words were laced with a smile and a sense of pride. For the 34-year-old, squash came into his life by visiting with his father and watching him play. Today, he is one of India’s best players in the game, but for this he is grateful to his father who instilled in him the fire to accept it as his profession.
But still, the man from Kolkata played squash more for fun than anything else.
“I got the opportunity to play the game because of my father, otherwise I probably wouldn’t have known what squash is, as do a lot of people in our country. But when you get exposed to certain things, at a young age of 5 years, 6 years, it’s not about you choosing it or choosing it. It’s just something that aligns with you. You like it more than other activities, you get into it,” Ramit told India Today.
“So for me too, this journey wasn’t a conscious decision like, ‘Oh, I want to be a squash player.’ It was like, okay this is fun, let me enjoy my time playing squash. While my friends played cricket or football, I used to spend my time on the squash court and gradually that passion turned into a profession.”
Now, Ramit is ranked 38th in the PSA Squash Tour Rankings. He is the second highest ranked Indian after Abhay Singh (World No. 27) and is one of the legends who led the squash revolution in the country along with Joshna Chinappa, Anahat Singh and Velavan Senthilkumar.
But seeing Ramit showcasing his skills inside the squash court was something that almost never happened. In fact, he could have lived a completely different life – in the world of finance, dealing with the ups and downs of balance sheets and the stock market.
From corporate room to squash court
Ramit’s love for squash led his parents to send him from Kolkata to Chennai to train at the Indian Squash Academy. Amidst all the training sessions and trials, one thing that never lagged behind for Ramit was his education.
“The instruction to focus on studies came from my parents. Education, you know, I always believe that India is a very academically-driven society. Unlike some other countries, where you go to England or America, there is a place for music, arts, sports – it is equally respected – but India as a society is more academically driven,” Ramit said.
But despite their strict instruction to focus on squash as well as studies, Ramit’s parents continued to push him in his sporting journey – for which he is grateful.
“I always say this – by yourself, you are not unique, you are alone. It is the team around you that sacrifices dreams for your dreams, which is very selfless and not an easy thing to do. As a child you don’t understand that, but growing up you realize what the people around you have done for you,” said Ramit.
Ramit excelled in his studies and subsequently got admission in Columbia University, New York, where he earned a BA in Statistics. At that time he was exposed to America’s strong college sports structure, but he never wanted to take things professionally.
“I wasn’t comfortable taking that risk. I was watching my friends, they were all applying for jobs in finance and different fields and that was the norm.”
“Professional sport is obviously more risky than a secure job where your paycheck is secure every month and you live a very structured lifestyle. You have a city you call home, you have an office you go to. It’s not like squash where one day I’m in a certain country and the next day I’m in another country.”
“So, at the time I decided to work in finance, I wasn’t comfortable taking that risk,” Ramit said.
So it looks like the squash dream has been left behind at this point. Ramit joined a hedge fund called Birch Grove Capital in New York as a financial analyst. He worked steadily for a few years before the love for squash gradually came back into his life.
While he was playing on the weekends, the excitement of being on the court slowly began to take over his corporate lifestyle.
“Initially, when you start a new job, the learning process is extremely difficult. So for the first year, I was learning something new every day. But with time, you start realizing that you have to repeat the same tasks over and over again for a long time. And that’s the real world.”
“That’s when I realized that squash, which I had been doing for 15-20 years, still excites me every time I step on the court. I did the work for a year and I was already feeling bored. So I started realizing that maybe there was some connection with this game that I shouldn’t give up,” Ramit said.
So does he miss the life of being a financial analyst?
“I will say I clearly miss parts of what I used to do. Not necessarily the crunch of numbers in finance, but you miss your friends and the lifestyle you lived. It’s a completely different life. Wearing a suit and going to the office versus wearing shorts and running around the squash court.”
“So there are parts of that world that I enjoy and still follow. I still follow the markets and it’s something I’m interested in. But there are parts of what I do now that I really enjoy and I’m glad I left it to do that,” Ramit said.
dreaming of olympics
While many may say that a revolution is happening in India with squashRamit feels this largely depends on the fact that the sport will be played in the Olympics. This will be the debut of squash at the Summer Games in Los Angeles in 2028 and the 34-year-old feels India is on board at this stage.
“We are at a stage right now where there is more focus than ever on getting squash included in the Olympics. There have been strong players in every generation. Before Anahat, you had Deepika and Joshna at their peak. Then Saurav Ghoshal, Harinder Pal Sandhu, Mahesh Mangaonkar.”
“India has always been a strong squash-playing nation. Maybe not at the top like Egypt, but consistently in the top five or six. Even today, we have four men in the top 50 and strong women players too,” Ramit said.
The world No. 38 is not getting ahead of himself like most athletes and is now turning his focus to the Asian Games 2026. He was part of the bronze medal-winning team in the 2018 edition, but missed the final.
He now enters JSW Indian Open 2026 In search of salvation.
In squash, the Professional Squash Association (PSA) classifies its world events into six tiers according to prize money and ranking points: Copper, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum and Diamond. Copper to Gold events typically feature 24 players, while Platinum tournaments feature 32 players and Diamond events feature 48 competitors. The ranking points awarded also increase with each level, starting at 500 points for a Copper title and going up to 3100 points for a Diamond-level victory.
JSW Indian Open is a copper event with valuable points to gain. Last year, Ramit was the top-ranked Indian player and was in the top 30 in the world. But 2025 did not go well for him as he slipped to 40th in the world and made an unceremonious exit from the competition.
The Indian Open is a tournament that Ramit enjoys a lot and sees it as a game-changer for the sport. He is also requesting to organize more such events in India.
“I think it is time that India starts hosting more such events. We have hosted many small tournaments which help the grassroots level, but it is very important to bring the top players to India.”
Ramit said, “None of our players growing up had the opportunity to watch the best players in the world at the age of 8 or 9 because we did not host those level competitions. Now, young kids get to see the best players in India compete. Their goals will go beyond just winning national championships. They will want to compete at the international level. So this is very important not only for the top players but for the entire squash culture of the country.”
The 34-year-old is someone who is self-criticizing and realizes where he went wrong in the very busy times of 2025. She says her aim is to win the crown at the Indian Open in Mumbai, which will be held from March 18-22.
“Last season I realized that I was stuck chasing ranking points and playing too many tournaments. Instead of focusing on solid performances in lesser events, I was competing everywhere. So this year we decided to reduce the tournament burden and focus more on quality performances. Last year I went into the Indian Open as the number one seed, this year I am the number three seed. But if you are in the top four seeds, you are looking to win tournaments. That goal remains the same. Yes,” said Ramit.
For the Indian star, all roads lead to the grand stage in LA for the Olympics in two years. Although he tries his best to keep a straight face and calm his enthusiasm, the same passion for the game that forced him to change suits and market data is still clearly visible.
“The Olympics is the biggest sporting event on the planet, so anyone who has put time into the sport will want to compete there and wave their country’s flag. But at the same time it’s still two and a half years away. I can’t just put the Olympics as my only goal. There are short-term goals for that – the Asian Games is the biggest sport at the moment.”
“But if you ask me how I would like to end my squash career, it would probably be by competing in the Olympics,” Ramit said.
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