ISLAMABAD - The seven-member Pakistan junior squash team left to Karachi, prior to take part in the Asian Junior Individual Squash Championship 2018, which is scheduled to be played in Chennai, India from September 26 to 29.

Talking to The Nation on Wednesday, Flight Lieutenant Aamir Iqbal, who is Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF) Game Development Officer, said: “The 8-member Pakistan squash delegation will depart to India after getting training in Karachi for four days. We were given only two slots in every category, so we were left with no other option but to send top players in each category. We conducted trials around two months back and since then, these players were being imparted training under top coaches, who had worked very hard on their fitness levels and also gave them perfect shape.

He said: “We are hopeful of winning gold medals in U-19, U-17 and U-15 categories. Our juniors have shown and proved that they have tremendous skills and can pose serious challenges to any given opponent. Fazal Shah is also accompanying the players as coach as his presence will help the players a great deal.

“The players include Abbas Zeb and Uzair Shaukat in U-19 category, Haris Qasim and Asad Ullah Khan in U-17 category, M Hamza Khan and M Ashab Irfan in U-15 category, whereas Anas Ali Bukhari will participate in U-13 category,” he added.

He said as per the seeding released by Asian Squash Federation (ASF), Abbas Zeb is No 4 seed and Uzair Shaukat No 12 in U-19, Haris Qasim is seeded No 5 and Asad Ullah No 16 in U-17, M Hamza Khan seeded No 3 and M Ashab Irfan seeded No 8 in U-15 category, while Anas Ali Shah would play as non-seeded player in U-13 category.

“The selected players were kept under training at Pakistan National Squash Academy in Islamabad for preparation of the championship. The contingent has proceeded to Karachi while they will depart for Chennai on September 23 for taking part in the championship,” he added.

Aamir said seeding doesn’t mean our players are lesser than any given opponent. The youngsters are trained well keeping in mind modern day needs while world champions Qamar Zaman, Jahangir Khan and Jansher Khan were also present during the recently-concluded international tournament in Islamabad. Their presence and tips will definitely not only boost the players’ morale, but will a;sp help them in overcoming their minor flaws.

The way legends were engaged with the juniors and the way they were responding, it will give them extra motivation. The federation is providing the best possible facilities, accommodation, meal, training, coaching and mental and physical fitness to not only juniors and seniors but also to female players and the recent performances of females in the $10,000 event in Islamabad is also quite satisfactory, considering the fact that they take their opponents to next levels before going down fighting. By providing them more international events at home soil, we can get better results from them in international events,” he added.

“We are working on not only providing our senior, junior and female players PSA tournaments, but also arranging international high-prize events at home. With each passing day, the players are showing signs of improvement, which are helpful in putting more efforts,” Aamir concluded.