By Abdul Jabbar Faisal
I stunned when few weeks back I came to know that Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF) has determined not to send the national team in forthcoming World Team Squash Championship 2019 that would be taken place in Washington DC, the capital city of United States of America (USA) next month in December. As many as 23 teams from all over the world will take part in the mega fixture of the squash world.
One day, I planned to visit the office of federation, which is located at Mushaf Squash Complex in the premises of Pakistan Sports Complex (PSC).On September 23, 2019, I visited the PSF office around 11am, I knocked at the door of secretary office and honorary secretary Tahir Sultan was in his seat in good mood and his table was decorated with fruit, biscuits, tea etc.
Probably, I was a new face for him. After introducing myself, I sat on the couch and start talking about the game of squash. With the permission of well dressed and smart man Tahir Sultan, I asked a question from him. “Why will, 6 times champions and 4 times runner-ups Pakistan team, not be participating in the mega World Team Squash Championship, which will be held in the mid December this year 2019?” After listening my question the face colour of squash official suddenly changed and started blaming me and shout at me, “Why are you not aware about this?”, as this decision was taken a month back in the Annual General Council Meeting (AGM) of the federation that was chaired by its president Mujahid Anwar Khan and decision was made by the house unanimously after a marathon discussion on this topic. I am not solitary responsible for this act, “he said
While unfolding the reasons behind this unremarkable decision he further said, “We have no capable players to make an ideal team to send abroad for the said event, who could perform up to mark in the international squash event. In the last edition Pakistani guys were spotted at 19th position in the World Team Squash Championship and we do not want to waste money on this unproductive trip. We want to give full attention to the juniors. All squash experts, officials, mentors and even media say that senior players are not toiling hard and it will be wastage of money if we will send these guys for unfruitful trips, “he maintained.
He further said, “We have not sufficient funds and we get finances from government and this money comes from public tax that cannot be thrown in the dustbin. Yes, if government provides us some resources for this trip then we can send of national team with green flag in the 23-nation international squash fixture. We host the international tournament and overseas players win while our senior players are crawling behind them. We provide maximum occasions to our guys to improve their ranking and get the place in top 20 and top 10, “he added.
It is pertinent to mention here that the first world team squash championship was held in 1967, which was won by Australia while Pakistan claimed this title first time in 1977 in the history of squash. Later on, Pakistan won the title four times in a row in 1981, 1983, 1985 and 1987. Last time Pakistan had won this prestigious squash event in 1993. As many as 26 years have been passed but Pakistan could not show impressive performance in the World Team Squash Championship fixtures so far.
British Open Squash Championship is another high profile international squash fixture and every player of the squash world dreams to win this title. Pakistan has wonderful record and inked remarkable and great history in British Open. Pakistani players won this title 30 times so far. Jahangir Khan 10, Hashim Khan 7, Jansher Khan 6, Azam Khan 4, Roshan Khan, Mohibullah Khan and Qamar Zaman won this tournament one time apiece for their country.
Last times, Jansher Khan won the British Open in 1997 by defeating Australian opponent Peter Nicole, unfortunately, next year 1998 same challenger Peter Nicole defeated Jansher Khan in the final. Almost, 22 years have been passed and Pakistan Squash Federation could not produce a solitary player, who could win this prestigious squash showpiece of the world.
It is fair and square to say that the standard of the squash going down day by day and the statics are showing real picture of squash and nobody can deny from this fact. In 1998, Amjad Khan had won high profile squash event in Karachi and that was Pakistan Open, after over two decades we could not produce a single players, who could fill the shoes of great Jehangir Khan and Jansher Khan. If there will be a long term policy to bring squash laurels back in Pakistan and we may resurrect our past and one could win the big titles for Pakistan but we are still crawling sadly.
Unfortunately, owing to lack of comprehensive and long term policies we are not able to find way out from this situation. There is need to formulate some long term policies to accelerate the standard of game, which can prove fruitful and our talented players could bring squash glory back in the Pakistan. Our squash standard is going down day by day with full speed. High-ups must look into the affairs of squash federation to put the train on right track. According to Professional Squash Association (PSA) last month ranking, our top national player Tayyab Aslam is at 60th, Asim Khan 74th and Farhan Mehboob at 91st positions. After these facts, there is no need to comment on the performance of national players and squash federation. Standard is going down with full speed like the speed of F-16.
