Normally it is the coach who guides his players to success. However, at the Bombay Gymkhana's squash courts yesterday, Sanjay Pawar experienced the opposite.

Pawar, who is a squash coach at the Otters Club in Bandra, needed a few tips from his wards to win his second round match at the ongoing 34th Bombay Gymkhana Maharashtra State Open Squash Championship.



Pawar was up against teenager and nine years his junior, Pranay Merchant. And in a game that went down to the wire, Pawar eventually prevailed 3-2 (10-12, 12-10, 9-11, 11-9, 11-4). Pawar later admitted it wouldn't have been possible without his boys. "It was a tough match but my students kept telling me what my opponent's strengths and weakness were and I was playing accordingly," said Pawar, whose wards knew their coach's opponent well having played against him earlier.

"I have played Pranay, so I told Sanjay sir to play the ball more at the back as he is weak there," said Samir Mistry, one of Pawar's students.