ISLAMABAD- Triumphant Pakistan squash team returned late Monday night from Hong Kong, after successfully defending their Asian Senior Team Squash Championship title.
Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF) secretary Group Captain Amir Nawaz along with other notables and squash lovers received the team here at the Benazir Bhutto International Airport. The team was welcomed on drum beats and sweets were distributed among them.
Talking exclusively to The Nation, head coach Jamshed Gul said: “It was a team effort as boys played their hearts out. We not only played against our rivals but also against poor refereeing especially in the matches against Kuwait and Malaysia. I had lodged a very strong protest with tournament referee Anthony Soo and I hope they will take this matter seriously and make sure such things not happen in future.”
Jamshed thanked Hong Kong crowd, who were very vocal and supported Pakistan team in each and every match. “Nasir Iqbal and Farhan Mehboob were the real heroes of Pakistan team victory but I must give credit to Farhan Zaman and Danish Atlas as well because they also played brilliantly.”
He urged the ASF to hire impartial and internationally famed referees for such high-profile events just like the WSA and others do as it help in conducting in a fair and transparent way and making it a success as far as refereeing is concerned.
“I will recommend that the PSF must enlarge pool of players. Our first task was defending Asian title which is accomplished and now I have set sights on winning world titles. For this purpose, we have to dig deep, train hard and discover new breed of players. Our immediate future is in safe hands, but we have to secure long-term future. The federation is on right track and we must hunt talent at grassroots level. If we follow our long-term plan, we will rule the squash world in next five to 10 years,” Jamshed concluded.
Sharing his views, Pakistan team captain Farhan Mehboob said: “Every player contributed in the cause which helped us retaining the Asian title. Nasir played exceptionally well and he was the one, who brought Pakistan back in the final after going one game down against former world No 7 Ong Beng Hee. I was quite confident, if Nasir provided us much-needed victory, I would earn title for the country.”
“We put in our hundred percent to win laurels for the country but it is quite unfortunate that when cricket team returns home, they are showered with countless benefits and plots are allocated to them, but it is very disheartening that despite we return home with title intact, no one bothered to say a few words of appreciation so incentives are far cry,” Mehboob concluded.
Nasir Iqbal termed his success to masterful coaching tips of seasoned coach Faheem Gul and Jamshed Gul, who remained at the courts watching his mistakes carefully and always ready to help him out. “Yes I was not giving satisfactory results in the past two events, but that doesn't mean I am finished. My recent results are more than enough to show my critics about my fitness levels and my game.”
Pakistani female team captain Maria Toor while sharing her views, said: “Although we finished sixth, yet we can have easily finished in top four as we were playing against not only rivals but also poor refereeing which forced us to finish sixth. We could have easily beaten India in the last group match, which meant we were in the semifinals, but referees had made up their minds and gave a number of calls against us. Anyhow, I will request the PSF to take female squash seriously and invest in females who will not disappoint in return.”
Pakistan top female player Sammer Anjum said: “We are very satisfied with the results as we played our best squash. All the participating countries by now have realised Pakistani girls are not lesser than any opponents. I especially want to thanks Hong Kong crowd who really backed us well. They appreciated our style and wanted us to do well in the event.”
PSF secretary Group Captain Amir Nawaz lauded the team’s performance and promised he would continue to give priority to both male and females and camps would continue on long-term basis. “Now we have set our sights on Asian Games gold and I am quite confident my players will return with gold medals.”
It is pertinent to mention here that Inter Provincial Coordination (IPC) Minister Mian Riaz Hussain Pirzada, PSB DG Dr Akhtar Nawaz Ganjera and other high-profile personalities didn't even bother to issue a congratulatory statement for Asian title winning team.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif should take some time off from his busy schedule and invite both male and female teams and duly recognise their achievements and announce healthy incentives for them. Any delay on part of the PM and the IPC Minister will further dishearten the players. The PSF must also announce respectable reward for male and female teams, head coach.