Iqbal eyes improved ranking

PSA’s top-ranked Pakistani player currently sits on 39

KARACHI: Pakistan’s highest-ranked player in the Professional Squash Association (PSA) rankings, Nasir Iqbal, wants to improve his career-best position of 39 before the upcoming South Asian Games (SAG), formerly known as the South Asian Federation (SAF) Games, in February next year.

Iqbal would be appearing in two major tournaments — the $150,000 JP Morgan Tournament of Champions and the $70,000 Motor City Open in the US — before joining the national squad for the regional event in Guwahati and Shillong in India. And the 21-year-old intends to get the maximum points from the events.

“I’ve got big tournaments ahead of me in the PSA circuit and I want to make the most out of them before representing Pakistan in the Games in India,” Iqbal told The Express Tribune. “I want to improve my rankings before I join the team and want to take the maximum possible points from the two events in the US. The Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF) has arranged a three-day workshop with the legendary Jahangir Khan in Karachi and I, along with a few others players, will primarily work on our mental toughness.”



Pakistan will be participating in the men’s and women’s individual and team events. Besides Iqbal, Farhan Zaman, Danish Atlas Khan and Sheikh Saqib Yousuf form the remainder of the men’s contingent, while the women’s squad will be revealed later.

The PSF announced the men’s squad for the Games after conducting trials in Islamabad from December 14-16.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 18^th, 2015.

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