PSF eyes fresh start as PSA declares Pakistan safe

ISLAMABAD: Like many other sports, squash has also been hit hard by COVID-19 with all major international events falling within next three months were either cancelled or postponed in a hope that life will get back to normal in due course for eagerly-awaited restart.

Amid the uncertainty, a good news has emerged for the Pakistan squash that is a marked increase in its security rating that now has allowed the country to organise or host all major international events without any pre-tournament security assessment from an independent or offshore security agency.

Now the Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF) is free to host international events without extra burden in shape of security fee.

PSF Senior Vice President Air Vice Marshal (AVM) Amir Masood while talking to ‘The News’ said the game of squash in the country would be off to a broader start once the clouds of the pandemic are over.

“News of immediate interest for the Pakistan squash fans is that the Professional Squash Association (PSA) has declared Pakistan a safe place to organise international events even of highest prize money. With no security fee and extra burden of arranging excessive and unnecessary security, now we can more concentrate on organising the events. That was why we planned a bigger and more lucrative CAS Open in Islamabad in April which we had to postpone due to COVID-19 outbreak. But one thing is certain that from here on Pakistan squash would emerge stronger and better. I am very much optimistic that squash in Pakistan would be result-oriented. We pray to Allah Almighty for an early end of the pandemic.”

Amir has a hope to see Nasir Iqbal springing back from isolation with a set aim.

“His aim should be to emerge amongst the top 20 in the world in a year time when the action restarts. We hope and pray that he would go on to achieve this target. Even in years of isolation where he was facing ban, Nasir didn’t lose heart and worked on his fitness and training which he carried out individually. Surely he is physically fit. Now when the ban is over we will provide him as well as Tayyab Aslam and Farhan Mehboob equal opportunities to excel. Tayyab and Farhan have been enjoying these luxuries for years. But Nasir who missed out because of ban will now get the same. With consistent efforts we hope to see sharp growth in Nasir’s ranking.”

Amir, however, reiterated that the PSF’s top priorities would be to strengthen the base of the game, invest in those who had excelled in international junior events including the recently concluded British Open.

“We are following their progress. Those juniors who have brought laurels for the country especially in British Open need federation’s backing and we would provide all available support to hone their skills further.”

For AVM Amir the biggest task was to help these juniors in their graduation to senior stage.

“We want to go to any extent to see our top juniors making visible progress when they join the professional circuit. They would be given all-out support for their efforts.”

During the days of isolation, the PSF has unveiled special guidelines for the leading professionals and one of those is to maintain healthy diet. “Maintaining healthy diet is a key to fitness especially when you are restricted to home for a few weeks. We have asked all the players to adhere to official guidelines and stay at home to avoid any unnecessary contact. Till that time besides using all available tools of exercise at home, these top junior and senior players must maintain healthy diet. We don’t want them to put on extra weight that usually happens when you start eating too much and do little exercise.”