Sporting glory

Amidst all the current doom and gloom in the economic, political and environmental realms, the nation has finally been treated to some good news. Hamza Khan has claimed the junior squash world title, becoming the first Pakistani in 37 years to win the trophy. He deserves all the congratulations, appreciation and support of the nation for putting Pakistan back on the map in a sport we once dominated. From Roshan Khan to Jahangir Khan and Jansher Khan, our country has produced an unparalleled number of squash greats. Then we lost our way completely until Hamza Khan brought us back in the game.

There has been more good news from the sporting front. Our cricket team has won the test series against Sri Lanka. The Pakistan team deserves appreciation for their commendable performance over the last couple of years despite our neighbour using every possible means to marginalize us in the cricketing world. Given the lack of cricketing opportunities at home coupled with the perpetual political interference in cricketing affairs, it is amazing that our team has achieved top spot in test team rankings, second in ODI rankings and fourth position in T20 rankings within the past few years.

Raja Shafaatullah

Islamabad