Pak players to leave for BJO on Jan 1

KARACHI: Pakistan’s nine squash players will leave on January 1 to participate in the prestigious British Junior Open that is to be held in Birmingham, United Kingdom, from January 3-7.

“We are leaving on the 1st with the hopes of winning a few titles in this edition,” said Zulfiqar Ali Khan, who is accompanying the squad as a coach, while talking to ‘The News’. 

"Hammas Ali is top seed in the under-11 category and Huzaifa Shahid is our top hope in the under-13 category. “Nauman Khan is another hope for the title in the under-15 category while we expect Abdullah Nawaz to show his mettle in the under-17 category,” said Zulfiqar.

Pakistan’s squad for the BJO comprises Hammas Ali Raja (Under-11), Huzaifa Shahid, Sohail Adnan (Under-13), Nauman Khan, Shah Zeb (Under-15), Abdullah Nawaz, Umair Arif (Under-17), and Anas Ali Shah, Usman Nadeed (Under-19).

The organisers of the BJO have already predicted on the basis of final seedings that Abdullah Nawaz, Nauman Khan, Huzaifa Shahid, and Harman Ali would reach the quarterfinals. However, PSF selected low-ranked players for the under-19 category as Anas is seeded 33rd while Usman is unseeded.

The federation did not select promising Huzaifa Ibrahim, who recently reached the final of US Junior Open, for the BJO on the grounds that he did not participate in the trials. “The federation also stated that Huzaifa is not capable of winning against the local players of under-17 category,” said a source while talking to ‘The News’.

The source added that PSF did not however clarify why they selected Huzaifa to feature in the World Junior Championship in July this year without trials. “If they had sent his entry in the BJO, Huzaifa would have got the 9th seeding based on his performance in the World Juniors,” reasoned the source. The source added that Huzaifa finished 21st in the World Juniors in the draw of 128 places which showed he was capable enough to feature in the BJO.