Pak squash players failing to capitalise on wildcards

KARACHI: Pakistan players got 62 wildcards in 45 international events held in the country during the last nine years, but 90 percent of them lost in the first rounds.

In 2014, Asim Khan and Farhan Mehboob got wildcards in two international events and they both lost in the first round.

In 2015, Faraz Muhammad, Sheraz Saleem, Israr Ahmed, and Abbas Shoukat got wildcards in four international events. Only Israr managed to reach the second round.

In 2016, Waqar Mehboob, Mahad Javed, Ammad Fareed, Bilal Zakir, and Asim Khan got wildcards in five international events. Ammad managed to reach the semifinals. The others lost in the first round.

In 2017, Ahsan Ayaz and Israr Ahmed got wildcards in two international events and both of them lost in the first round.

In 2018, Abbas Zeb, Kashif Asif, Naveed Rehman, Amir Atlas Khan, Haris Qasim, M Farhan, M Uzair, Hassan Raza, Saeed Abdul, Ahsan Ayaz, Noman Khan, Faraz Muhammad, and Owais Rasheed got wildcards in nine international events. Only Kashif Asif managed to reach the second round.

In 2019, Waqas Mehboob, Israr Ahmed, Haris Iqbal, Haris Qasim, Farhan Hashmi, Salman Saleem, Noor Zaman, Zeeshan Zeb, Faizan Khan, and Rafi Khan got wildcards for six international events. Faizan Khan lost in the second round. Noor Zaman got two wildcards and lost in the second round in one event.

In 2020, Faraz Muhammad, Saeed Abdul, Waqar Khan, Zeeshan Zeb, Hamza Sharif, and Hamza Khan got wildcards in three international events. All players lost in the first round except Zeeshan who lost in the second round.

In 2021, Hamza Khan, Faraz Muhammad, Khushal Riaz, Noor Zaman, Hamza Sharif, Faraz Muhammad, Saeed Abdul, Ahmad Amin, Huzaifa Shahid, Junaid Khan, Tayyab Rauf, Usman Nadeem, and Azlan Khawar got wildcards in five international events and all of them lost in the first round.

In 2022 so far, Ashab Irfan, Noor Zaman, Farhan Mehboob, M Ammad, Khushal Riaz, and Moeen-ud-Din, and Talha Saeed have got wildcards in four international events. Ashab Irfan got two wildcards and managed to reach the second round in one event. Farhan Mehboob and M Ammad also lost in the second round. The others lost in the first round.