Pakistan confirms participation in World Squash Team Championship

KARACHI: After skipping the 2019 edition, Pakistan has confirmed its participation in the 2021 edition of the WSF Men’s World Team Squash Championships to be played in Kuala Lumpur from December 7-12.

The World Squash Federation (WSF) confirmed on Wednesday that 27 teams (the most since 2013) including Pakistan will contest this year’s championship.

The teams are Argentina, Australia, Canada, Colombia, Czech Republic, Egypt, England, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Iran, Israel, Japan, Kuwait, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Russia, Scotland, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, and the USA.

Five-time winners Egypt are favourites to defend their crown for the third successive tournament, with the country boasting seven of the world’s top ten ranked players, including World No.1 Ali Farag.

The most likely rivals for the crown are five-time winners England, who will be eager to recapture the title they last won in 2013, and France, who are seeking a first ever championship.

Also hunting their maiden title are hosts Malaysia. They will go into the tournament hoping to build on two round-of-16 and a quarter final exits in their last three tournaments.

It is to be noted that the six-time winners Pakistan have not won any title since 1993. In 2019, Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF) decided not to send the national team for the championship.

The reason behind not sending the team for the championship was poor results of national players at international level for a long time.

It is pertinent to mention here that Pakistan won the World Team Championships in 1977, 1981, 1983, 1985, 1987, and 1993.