Mumbai, June 20 -- Shameena Riaz realised she had ticked off a "special" goal from the manner in which her father hugged her. "In the last 20 years," she said, "I've never gotten a hug like that from him." Him is Mohammed Riaz, India's former hockey captain, a two-time Olympian and two-time Asian Games medallist, the first of which came on his debut in 1994 in Japan. Thirty-two years later his daughter is set to feature in her first Asian Games, in the same country, in a different sport. Shameena earned the last spot in India's four-member women's squash team for the continental event in Aichi-Nagoya through the selection trials in Chennai. Joining Anahat Singh, Joshna Chinappa and Tanvi Khanna, part of the bronze-winning team in Hangzhou three years ago, will be the 20-year-old debutant. "It will be my first big event in squash," Shameena told HT. "It feels a bit surreal, especially since my dad also played the Asian Games and won a gold (1998) and silver (1994). Now my next aim is to also get a medal." The Chennai youngster has only recently transitioned from juniors, with last year's Asian Championships being her first senior event. "This will be Joshna's 7th Asian Games. That's just crazy," said Shameena. "Travelling with the likes of Joshna, Abhay (Singh) and Anahat, it's time for me to learn all the good things from them." Ranked 159th in the PSA charts, Shameena is starting to play some bigger events while largely competing on the Challenger circuit. Mohammed Riaz's influence on her journey has been enormous, right from when he took her to the Madras Cricket Club. "Coming from a sporting background, my parents wanted me to play some sport. My dad's friends were into squash, and he knew Joshna," said Shameena. "They said it would be good for me to play squash. The next day, I was at ISA." The Indian Squash Academy in Chennai has been Shameena's training base for the last 11 years. She has Cyrus Poncha to call as coach, and her father as mentor. "I talk to him a lot, even about his past matches, his training schedules, how focussed he was, what he did to get where he was. It's crazy, I don't think I could've done that!" Shameena chuckled. "I always learn a lot from him and his experiences."...