Pakistan has highest number of squash players in Asia: PSA Foundation

KARACHI: Pakistan has the highest number of squash players in Asia while it is the third country with most squash players in all the continents.

This has been revealed by Professional Squash Association Foundation in the wake of International Day of Sport for Development and Peace observed on April 6.

According to the foundation, Asia boasts some competitive countries in squash, with 5.25% of players competing on the PSA Tour hailing from India, 4.4% from Malaysia and 7.9% Pakistan.

In North America, squash is more popular than elsewhere as a recreational sport. In this continent, the United States of America hosts a lot of the major PSA Tour tournaments.

As per details, 4.2% of the PSA Tour is represented by the USA, 2.8% by Canada and 1.7% by Mexico.

Europe is a consistent member of the international scene for squash and has produced a number of all-time greats and possesses many countries active in the sport.

Of those competing on the PSA Tour, 8.4% are from England (10.8% from the United Kingdom), 4.5% are from France and 2.7% from Germany.

Africa boasts some very passionate squash communities as Egypt currently has the most registered players on the PSA Tour at 13%. South Africa is next with 4.7% of registered players.

In this regard legendary squash player Jansher Khan reportedly said that “I would hope that in around four to five years we will once again have Pakistani players in the top 20 of the rankings. That is our target. But it won’t be easy as we are coming from nothing with just three Pakistani players in the top 100.”

Jansher believes that there is a need to groom the massive talent Pakistan has for squash. “Our junior players have a lot of talent and they work very hard, but they are still young and of course it will take time for them to develop and progress and we must be patient in letting that process take place but there is no question the talent is there," he said.

“What there has been a problem with in Pakistan squash is that they have not been prepared to work hard enough. They may have wanted to be champions but they did not want to put in the work required. The talent is there, no question, but not the fitness and conditioning and we are working hard to address that,” said Jansher.