Churchill student Andy Muran has been named as the top seed at this weekend’s Squash Varsity Match against Oxford.
Andy joined the College this academic year to do his one year Masters in Translational Biomedical Research, but when he’s not up at Addenbrooke’s he can be found on a squash court, committing himself to the sport he started playing at 9 years old.
Asked how he got into the sport when growing up in America, it’s clear he grew up with it from a very young age. He speaks of how his dad played tennis in College and then went on to make varsity in squash. According to Andy, this was “pretty easy” when you had a background in tennis. The scene in America has changed since, with squash falling into two clear camps – the country club players, and the “really intense” pro scene. “They don’t have the middle ground – that fun social side – that I’ve found in the UK”.
Whilst at Cornell Andy was a number one player, as well as being captain in both his junior and senior years. When asked how he would deal with the pressure of being the number one this weekend, he acknowledges the pressure but also believes in himself: “That hour of my life will always be remembered. Your hope is that even your 80% is better than your competitor’s 100%. I know my Oxford opponent played for Harvard, but on paper I should win.”
As we wrapped up our chat before Andy headed off to play his last match before Varsity, we asked who he looked up to in squash. He was quick to name his coach at Cornell, former world number 1 David Palmer, who we are sure will be as eager to hear the results of his match as we are this weekend.
Good luck Andy, from everyone at Churchill!
