LAHORE    -    Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF) Senior Vice President Air Marshal Aamir Masood has said that the federation is trying its best to get a world champion in next three years.

Aamir Masood said this during the inauguration ceremony of National Junior Squash Championship Circuit-II at Mushaf Squash Complex Islamabad on Monday. PSF Secretary Wing Commander Armghan Aziz, squash legend Qamar Zaman and other dignitaries were also present on the occasion.

Talking to media persons, Air Marshal Amir Masood said: “We have quality junior players, who are capable of emerging as world champions and the PSF is providing maximum support to these talented youngsters as they are future of Pakistan squash. But we will not compromise on the discipline and fitness of the players.”

He lauded the wonderful performance of Noor Zaman, who won the Asian Junior Championship title, proved that there is no shortage of talent in the country’s youth.

“The ideal age of the player to become a world champion in squash is 20 to 22 years. We are trying to make a pool of young players and also trying to hire a foreign coach to improve the players’ skills and fitness.” Highlighting the federation’s efforts, which is providing extensive support and the best available facilities to the players, the PSF Senior Vice President said: “We haven’t won the world junior tie in 36 years but now we are hoping to win world junior title and change the history,” he concluded.

Earlier, Air Marshal Amir Masood, Senior Vice President, Pakistan Squash Federation, also inaugurated the National Junior Squash Championship Circuit-II, which is being participated 263 junior players from across the country in different age group categories.

The tournament is being played in age group categories including boys U-11, 13, 15, 17, 19 and girls U-19. An amount of Rs 600,000 will be distributed as prize money amongst the players. The first event of the Junior Circuit-2022 was held in March 22 wherein, a group of 198 players participated from across the country. However, as a result of continuous PSF efforts, the number of participants for Circuit-2 has significantly increased.

On Monday, the first round matches were played in different age group categories. In the boys U-11, Maaz, Joshou Tariq, Mustafa Khan, Abdul Rafay, Salman Adnan, Ibrahim Ahmed, Raheel Masih and Ahmed Safwan Gul were victorious. In the boys U-13, Danish Sikandar, Umar Usmani, M Fawad Khan, Safi Ullah, Arslan Farman, Ayan Mansoor and Qadeer Khan were triumphant.

In the boys U-15, M Dawood Ahmed, M Raza, Yahya Asad, Ali Bakhshish, Rohan Mehd and Ali Usmani recorded victories against their respective rivals. In the boys U-17, Muhammad Zubair, M Arslan Ali, Noor Khan, Shayan Ali and Shamil Khan played superb squash and won their respective matches.

In the boys U-19, Talha Bin Zubair, Shahzad, Hamza Shaukat, Waqar and Shayan Adnan recorded easy victories. In the girls U-19, Hafsa Yousaf, Zarlish Safdar, Sunzil Safdar, Ronaq Saleem, Zohra Abdullah, Tayyaba Abbas, Nimra Batool and Sehrish Ali won their respective matches.