29-Feb-2012
KARACHI: Squash, a sport in which Pakistan was once at the top in the world, is so plagued by the internal politics that junior players have come to believe that that they do not stand a chance to play at top levels.
Off-court chatting with some junior players, who are participating in a five-day international junior squash open with the prize money of $10,000 here, revealed that they have been facing the issues of improper guidance, no coaching, poor quality equipment, lack of sponsorship and hold of major families.
National number one Safiullah Kakar from Quetta, who won the under-17 semifinal of the 4th Roshan Khan Junior Open Squash 2012, showed his determination to take part in the seniors’ tournament in a month’s time. “But I am in dire need of sponsorship. I need good coaching,” he said.
Safi, who idealises Ramy Ashore of Egypt, was somewhat reluctant to talk about the monopolisation of the game by some families, but he said he never got any assistance even in coaching from the senior renowned squash players although he is the number one under-19 player of the country. “I haven’t got any sponsorship, and when I went to Iran for contesting an international open back in 2007 I had to bear the expenses myself,” he said.
He complained that in spite of the country’s long squash history and the greats that the country has produced he did not even get an offer for being coached.
Abdul Basit from Sindh, who beat top seed Shahzeb Khan 11-0 (3-1 win) in the category of under-17, was quite perturbed by the domination of the game by some families because. He said players like him do not stand a chance and it is only kith and kin of the big families who will play this game at the top levels.
“Sindh Squash Federation helped us a lot this time and gave us physical training that has resulted in good output as Madina Raza (under-15) and Mujtaba Raza (under-11) reached the finals in this tournament,” he added.
But the girls do not think this way. Samar Anjum from Lahore, who is Pakistan’s number 2 Under-19 player, reached final of any tournament for the third time on Tuesday.
“My father wanted me to play squash, and he knew very much that this is the game boys get rewards in,” she said. “I have proved that girls too can be good squash players, and now I want to be world number one, for which I need only one thing and that is support,” she added.
After this open, she is going to play an international tournament in Malaysia in July this year. Ailee Nayrei from Iran, who reached under-15 final on Tuesday, was very hopeful of squash’s future as she aspires to be the world champion. “I have been playing since the age of six. After this tournament I am going to participate in any international tournament I come across with,” she added.
“It is indeed pleasure to be here in Pakistan and I am enjoying it. For girls like me it’s good to have this kind of sporty environment,” said Ailee.
It is to be noted here that 210 junior players have been participating in this 4th Roshan Khan Junior Open Squash in seven categories, including 114 from Sindh, 49 from Punjab, 45 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 13 from Balochistan, 19 from Pakistan Air Force, two from Zarai Taraqyati Bank Limited, one from Army, and one from Wapda.
Out of these 210 players, there are 27 girls. International players participating in this Open include Ranjeet and Junaid from India (both under-15) and Doroshan Khan from Canada (under-13). |
