Squash event shifted owing to slippery court

KARACHI: Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF) has had to shift the matches of a tournament to Roshan Khan Squash Complex because the all-weather, four-wall glass squash court proved dangerous for players.

It has been learnt that the wooden floor of the court installed at PAF Museum proved too dangerous for players in the PARCO-Roshan Khan Open Squash as several players slipped during their matches.

Ali Bukhari slipped thrice and Tayyab Aslam twice during their matches.

On Wednesday, players refused to continue their matches on the court so the PSF had to shift the venue.

Ali, who lost in the first round in this event, said that it would have been better if the authorities had conducted all the matches at Roshan Khan Squash Complex.

When contacted, PSF secretary Amir Nawaz said the high level of humidity was the reason they had changed the venue. “We tried our best to deal with the issue but in the end we changed the venue. Now matches will be played at the Roshan Khan Complex,” he added.

Sources said that the court was slippery owing to dew.

The problems with the court were noticed during its first test at the PAF museum when it was installed for the bilateral series between Egypt and Pakistan.

The Egyptian players said they faced grip problems in their practice session and during matches.

The court was fine on the first day of the series but on the second day it was very slippery.

The mobile court, which was donated by ASB for the Asian Beach Games held in Thailand in November 2014, was bought by PSF in December 2014 for more than Rs12 million.

The court lay at Karachi port for 16 months and perhaps this was the reason behind the poor performance of the court.