Former Crimson Player To Play at Commonwealth Games

We certainly hear about plenty of Harvard athletes making their mark on an international level, even a few on the Olympic stage—but at the Commonwealth Games? Not so much.

The Commonwealth Games, the Olympic equivalent for the members of the British Empire, will be held for the 19th time beginning this Sunday in Delhi, India, where Siddharth Suchde ’07 will be representing the host country.

Suchde was a top-tier squash player at Harvard from 2003-2007 and won the national championship his senior year. According to the Hindustan Times, “with his Harvard degree, hard body and steely nerves, 25-year-old Siddarth Suchde is India’s second highest-ranking player in squash, a game that puts immense strain on the joints and mind.”

Such elaborate praises for Suchde and other individual athletes have been just about the only positive news coming out of the Commonwealth Games so far.

Preparations for the event have been riddled with political and social scandals and various other mishaps.

Several athletes have withdrawn from the Games, with one Australian participant leaving after he found a snake in his bedroom in the athlete village. Other competitors have also withdrawn citing general safety concerns, and it looks like their worries weren’t too farfetched.

In the past week and a half, a footbridge to one of the main venues collapsed, a part of the roof over the weightlifting arena caved in, and two tourists were shot outside of Jama Masjid, one of Old Delhi’s largest attractions.

To find out if the Commonwealth Games can overcome their dismal start and to see how Harvard’s representative performs, click here.