Promising start to college squash for Otshabeng
Calistus Kolantsho | Tuesday January 14, 2025 12:31
Otshabeng faced Reshika Rajathinam of William Smith College but went down 11-6, 7-11, 11-9, 4-11, 11-5. However, Otshabeng was able to win 3-1 in the second game played on Friday against Isabella Bin of Brown University with a score of 6-11, 11-7, 8-11, 6-11. On Saturday evening, St. Lawrence University team lost the tie 7-2 against Wesleyan University. Otshabeng won her match to make it two wins and one loss over the weekend.
She secured a 3-0 win against Mira Bakshi of Wesleyan, registering a score of 5-11, 3-11, and 7-11. Otshabeng is a beneficiary of the Botswana National Sport Commission (BNSC) Elite Scholarship and she has been part of the Alpha Squash Academy since 2016. She is the first woman squash player to benefit from the BNSC Elite Scholarship and she was part of the squash national team, together with Leungo Katse, that represented Botswana at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. Speaking to SportMonitor after the match, Otshabeng’s coach, Koketso Ntshebe, said the player was nervous because of the pressure and expectation from people who expected her to win.
“The loss had nothing to do with skill or anything, it was just pure nerves and accepting the facts, which cost her the first match in her college career. We had a conversation after the match, which was to encourage her to keep her head up because this is only the beginning and she has a long way to go in this game. I reminded her that this is what she has been dreaming about ever since she was in Standard Five at Camp Primary School in Gaborone,” he said. Ntshebe said he reminded Otshabeng that playing college squash is what they will be doing for the next four years.
He said the talk was really about telling her that she is ready to compete technically and physically, adding that the player needed to believe in herself again. Ntshebe said Otshabeng has hinted turning professional with a possible sign-up into the Professional Squash Association (PSA) this year while still at college. “We are still to discuss that at length as a team on what she really wants to do but for sure we need her to play a bit longer and serve as a beacon of hope for those who will come after her because it is a legacy project for all of us at Alpha Squash Academy and the Botswana Squash. We all know what needs to be done, when, how without forgetting those who supported us from the start,” Ntshebe said.