Pakistan may miss Asian Junior Squash championship

KARACHI: Pakistan’s participation in the 22nd Asian Junior Squash Individual Championships scheduled in Iran from August 23-27 is in jeopardy due to medical and visa issues with Asim Khan and Israr Ahmed, respectively.
“Asim has been diagnosed with hepatitis-B in his medical examination taken for this championship, so it is nearly impossible for him to take part in the event,” Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF) secretary Amir Nawaz told ‘The News’.
“And there are visa issues for Israr,” he said, adding that Israr was also participating in the Commonwealth Youth Games taking place in Samoa from September 5-11. “We had to apply for visas for Israr and Sadia Gul 60 days before the CYG, so Israr’s passport is with them. We will now request the Iranian officials to issue visa to Israr on the photocopy of his passport,” added Amir.
He said hopefully this issue would be resolved in a day or two and Israr would be able to play both the Asian Junior and CYG.
“If Iran authorities didn’t issue him the visa, he would have to skip this Asian championship and Pakistan would have no representation in this championship,” said Amir.
According to the draws released by Asian Squash Federation (ASF) on Monday, both the players got byes in the first round.
Israr is seeded second and Asim third in the boys under-19 category. Malaysia’s Ng Eain Yow is top seed for this category.
No entries of any other categories, including under-17, 15, 13, and 11, were sent for the championship.