ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF) secretary Group Captain Amir Nawaz has termed his team’s chances in the upcoming Asian Junior Team Squash Championship quite bright and hoped the team will succeed in defending their title.
Talking to The Nation, Amir said: “We have the services of the most seasoned players Tayyab Aslam and Syed Ali Mujtaba Bokahri, who were the part of the title winning team and they are in perfect shape to defend the title once again.”
“After the trials, we have selected the four-member team comprising Tayyab Aslam, Ali Bokhari, Israr Ahmed and Asim Khan. They are getting training under the watchful eyes of world’s renowned coach Faheem Gul Khan at Punjab Squash Complex. The team will return to train at Mushaf Ali Mir Squash Complex from January 12 and will train in the glass courts till their departure. I am very much confident with the facilities being provided to them, their fitness levels, preparations and hard work of coach Faheem, they will have little trouble in defending their title successfully,” he claimed.
Amir said that the paper work of five-glass court at Karachi dry port was in final stages and hopefully, the clearance would be made in next four to five days. When asked about where the latest technology court would be installed, Amir replied: “The Hashim Khan Complex Peshawar is our top most priority and we are exploring other options as well. Punjab is another destination, where the court can be installed as they have also requested for it, but we have to take into account all the aspects and then will finalise the venue, as we want complete utilization of the court to get the best results.”
“UK programme is very much on the right track, and all the necessary work is almost completed. The initiative will be taken as soon as we arrange visas for our top two players Nasir Iqbal and Farhan Zaman. This programme will have long impact on Pakistan squash and we will get a lot of help from it as top two players can break into top 20 or even more closer in the PSA rankings and then we will send back up players. This entire program will continue unabated and we will start to get results,” he added.
“We are well-short of funds and looking towards the special grant of Rs 50 million announced by the Prime Minister but after a lapse of several months, we have yet to receive that amount. Without that financial support, it is almost impossible to run day-to-day affairs, so sending players abroad for the PSA events and conducting international events is a far cry,” he said.
“The PSA has very kindly allocated two $15,000 and same number of $25,000 events to the PSF. The first two events will be held by the end of March or early April in Lahore and Karachi. The year 2015 will be the year of major events in Pakistan, which also include revival of Pakistan Open after a gap of several years. We are quite confident the PSA will look into our case and the result will be in our favour, as we had successfully conducted the $25,0000 event last year,” he asserted.
When asked about decline in the players PSA rankings, especially Nasir Iqbal, Farhan Zaman and Farhan Mehboob, Amir replied: “Nasir was not feeling well throughout 2014 and he just had minor slump in the PSA rankings. Same is the case with Farhan Zaman, but it is Farhan Mehboob who suffered sharp decline in his rankings, which is quite surprising. Farhan did quite well in the PSA events. Now Nasir and Farhan are well back on road of recovery, and soon they will start to jump upwards and will break into top rankings soon,” Amir concluded.