Exciting Pakistan-India clash in Asian Squash Championship tomorrow

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and India will be up against each other in an expected exciting clash on Wednesday (tomorrow) in the Asian Senior Squash Team Championship in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia).

Indian campaign in the prestigious event is being led by world No 15 Saurav Ghosal who just last week won the Malaysian Open in a convincing style. Pakistan team that reached Malaysia on Monday to compete in the event has been placed in Group A alongside India, Indonesia, Japan, Iraq, and the Philippines. Malaysia, Hong Kong, Iran, Korea, Singapore, and Sri Lanka are part of Group B. Two teams from each group will play the semis.

Wing Commander Armghan Aziz, team manager and secretary of Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF), told ‘The News’ from Malaysia that the team had arrived in Malaysia with the aim to upstage the best of outfits on the way to regain the title.

“The team members are ready to take on India. The match will be crucial to determine the team’s fate in the pool,” the team manager said. The four-member Pakistan team consists of Tayyab Aslam, Nasir Iqbal, Asem Khan, and Ammad Fareed.

Pakistan will open their campaign against the Philippines on Tuesday (today) morning followed by the second match against Indonesia the same day. The best of three-match team event will then see Pakistan playing Iraq early Wednesday morning followed by a late Wednesday match between Pakistan and India. Pakistan’s last ground match will be against Japan on December 2.

“Players have worked hard over the last one month to prepare for the Asian Team event and later for the Asian individual event to be held in Pakistan next month.”

Wing Commander Armghan said all three top players have the capacity to beat the best in the competition. “Tayyab, Nasir, and Asem have the capacity to beat the best. We hope to topple India to start with a bang and to finish on the top of the table in Pool A,” he said.

Nasir also spoke to ‘The News’ from Kuala Lumpur Monday, saying he has completely recovered. “ I am fit and ready to play whenever the team requires. I am looking forward to the tie against India as I have some scores to settle.”

It was in India during the 12th South Asian Games that he tested positive. Though earlier reports during the same event cleared him, he tested positive after winning the individual gold beating Saurav Ghosal on the way.

“Pakistan have a chance of beating India even if Saurav is coming having won the Malaysian Open. We have a strong outfit with every member of the team capable of delivering when required,” he said.

Rehman Gul is the Pakistan team coach. Pakistan has dominated the Asian Team event winning it more times than any other Asian country.