Danish, speaking at a ceremony held to award cash prizes to the team after it won a silver medal at the Men’s World Junior (individual and team) Squash Championship, said that employment was a necessary incentive for the players.
“Permanent employment is very necessary for a sportsman because he performs much better if he knows that his future is secure,” Danish told The Express Tribune. “We want to give our best to Pakistan but we haven’t been able to play in important Professional Squash Association tournaments. Hence we’ve requested the Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF) to help us get entries in these events so that we can improve our ranking and be eligible for those.”
Danish received Rs100,000 for his individual effort while teammates Nasir Iqbal, Hamza Bukhari, Ali Bukhari and Tayyab Aslam – and coach Jamshed Gul received Rs300,000 each.
Meanwhile, Danish added that the new PSF President Tahir Rafique Butt listened to the players’ requests and he remained hopeful that the situation would improve. The 18-year-old said that the federation should set a target of one year for every player to reach a certain level, providing all the facilities they need.
“There should be a target and facilitation. If any player fails then there should be accountability, in this way everybody would give their best.”
Published in The Express Tribune, July 31st, 2012.
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