ISLAMABAD - The qualifying round matches were decided on the inaugural day of the Bahria Town International Women Squash Championship 2014 which commenced here Thursday at Safari Club; Safari Villas I Bahria Town squash courts.
As per expectations, both top seeds Maria Toor Pakai and South Korean Ahineun Chan did not bother to participate in the prestigious event. It is highly unfortunate that PSF secretary Amir Nawaz had managed arrival visa for Ahineun Chan after hectic efforts in emergency, but Ahineun turned her back at the eleventh hour. Same is the case with Maria, to whom the federation is lending a helping hand financially and morally, but she preferred to play in Canada rather than representing Pakistan. Now the time is ripe when the PSF, instead of investing in dead horses, must find new players and invest on them so that they must prefer the country's pride to their own priorities.
The organisers had promised every best possible facility for the visiting international players and also facilitating them with 50 percent airfare, no one could even think about such luxury, but all their offers and promises were not considered enough by both Maria and Ahineun as they skipped the event. On the opening day, Habiba Khan beat Noor Fatima 3-0, Farah Manzoor outplayed Haleema Nadeem, Sri Lankan player Fathoum Issadeen beat Roma Yousaf and Noorul Ain beat Nimra Shahid.
The main round will start today (Friday) at 5pm followed by the opening ceremony. Commodore (r) Ilyas VCE will be the chief guest on the occasion.