17 Pak players did not play any PSA event in 2022

KARACHI: Pakistan’s 17 players registered with Professional Squash Association did not play a single PSA Challenger or Satellite event in the current year.

There are 129 players registered with PSA from Pakistan. This seems strange considering the spree of PSA memberships by Pakistani players as 26 squash players got membership this year -- the highest since 2016.

But simply getting PSA membership does not help players as they don’t get to play international events, sometimes for years, due to their low rankings. Though this element was addressed by the squash authorities in the country by organising a number of international satellite events, the situation is still bad for many players.

According to details, out of 26 registered players in 2022 only 15 managed to play international satellite events while only one player played ‘PSA Challenger’ events. This registration or becoming ‘pro’ did not augur well for 11 players as they could not get a single event in the current year.

“They cannot get PSA memberships without the endorsement from Pakistan Squash Federation,” said a local coach while talking to ‘The News’. The coach added that these players after getting into top-20 of the national ranking get PSA memberships in order to go abroad.

“They look for opportunities to leave Pakistan for better future. A number of players from Pakistan never returned after leaving for taking part in the international events,” said the coach.

He said that these players get PSA memberships, considering it an "investment" for their future. “They keep entering their names in international events and whenever they get to play any international event after trying for years they just don’t come back and this issue has plagued the national squash for a long time,” said the coach.