Pak squash juniors losing ground in Asia

KARACHI: Pakistan is losing ground in Asian squash, once its stronghold, as no Pakistani junior squash player is among the top ten in the region.

According to the latest rankings released by Asian Squash Federation (ASF), there is no Pakistani player in the top ten of under-19 category.

Hamza Sharif and Ashab Irfan are ranked 12th and 14th, respectively, while Noor Zaman is ranked 19th.

Pakistan’s junior players used to top Asian rankings in large numbers but today the situation is different.

In the under-17 category, Huzaifa Ibrahim and Hamza Khan are both ranked 5th after facing slight decline in their ranking positions.

In the under-15 category, Umair Arif and Abdullah Nawaz are ranked 13th and 14th, respectively, after each getting push of two positions.

In the under-13 category, Abdul Ahad Butt jumped to 9th position and he is the only player from Pakistan in this category out of 182 players in the region.

In the under-11 category, Huzaifa Shahid secured the top position and he too is the only player from Pakistan in this category out of total 27 players from the region.