Five Pak players in World Junior squash

KARACHI: Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF) will take five players for the first time to the WSF World Junior Individual Championships, to be held in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, from July 26–30.
“We are taking five players to this championship — this is happening for the first time,” said PSF secretary Amir Nawaz. “We are focusing on this individual event, having decided to fully utilise it by taking maximum number of players to increase our chances,” he said.
He added that the federation was sponsoring these five players, Asim Khan, Tayyab Aslam, Israr Ahmed, Abbas Shoukat, and Ahsan Ayaz.
“Only two or three players from Pakistan used to take part in this individual event, but this time we have decided to give more players the opportunity to play this big event,” said Amir.
He said he would accompany the players as the manager and Fahim Gul as the coach. “We will try to reach there by 23rd. The conditions are okay for our players. This event will provide them good exposure to competitive squash at such a big level, and it will help them improve their performance,” added Amir.
The secretary said that the federation was in better financial position this time.
“Israr last time reached the fourth round. Tayyab lost in the quarters. Only Abbas and Ahsan are playing this championship for the first time,” he added.
Amir said they were expecting that their players would at least reach the semi-finals stage. “One of the reasons to take along five players is to increase our chances of moving into the top rounds,” he added.
The championship was to be held in Cairo but due to poor security situation the World Squash Federation (WSF) moved it to the Netherlands. The championship will be hosted by the Dutch Squash Federation.