PSF hires Mir Zaman as national coach

KARACHI: Pakistan Squash Federation has hired former world number six Mir Zaman Gul as new head coach.

The federation had advertised for hiring a foreign coach last week. “I had fourth session today with junior players,” said Zaman when contacted.

He added that the nature of the contract has not been finalised yet whether he was hired on interim basis or would continue for a long period.

“I will look after the national squash academy where junior players are trained while senior players will also be coached,” said Zaman.

Zaman has Level-I and Level-II coaching certifications. He has more than 15 years’ experience of coaching at two clubs in the United States.

He said that he had made it clear to the officials of the federation that things take time and it is not easy to produce champions in a short period.

“I told them that it would take around five to ten years to make players champions since we have not produced any champion player since 1995,” said Zaman.

He said the current level of players in Pakistan is not good and the fitness of players is very poor.

“Initially I have been given four junior players to train. I hope that with proper coaching and training our players would start showing good results at international level,” said Zaman.

When asked about his health issues, he said he is now completely fine and in good health. “I had brain tumor and got it treated in 2019. I am completely fine now,” said Zaman.

It is to be noted that Zaman won close to 100 titles in his career.

PSF’s head coach Rehman Gul resigned and joined Sri Lanka’s team as their head coach.

“PSF has a good pool of associate coaches and I will try to work with them in total harmony to fulfill our mission in the given time,” said Zaman.