Gul urges smarter, harder training to revive squash

Coach says players fear hard training, need more matches to progress

KARACHI:

Pakistan squash coach Faheem Gul believes harder and smarter training can help the country’s players improve their world rankings and compete effectively at a higher level in international circuit.
“I think there is a need for harder and smarter training,” Faheem Gul told The Express Tribune in a detailed chat.
“People talk about seven to eight hours of training, but things have changed a lot. Everything is scientific now. Even if players manage two hours of harder and smarter training, they can still make progress. The problem is that the boys are afraid of training,” Faheem said.
Faheem recently coached Pakistan’s squash team at the 20th Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, where the country won one silver and two bronze medals in squash.
Pakistan’s top-ranked player Noor Zaman, and Mohammad Ashab Irfan claimed bronze medals in the men’s singles, while the men’s team, featuring Noor, Irfan and Nasir Iqbal, won silver.
Faheem was satisfied with the overall performance but felt Pakistan had missed an opportunity to win gold in the team event.
“The boys did well, and we could have won the team event final had Noor won his match. He was leading 2-1 but lost the next two games,” Faheem said.
Malaysia’s Ameeshenraj defeated Nasir Iqbal 3-1 before Yow Eain Ng secured a hard-fought 3-2 victory over Noor Zaman to clinch the team gold for Malaysia.
Faheem had mixed feelings about Nasir’s performance, saying the Pakistani player needed to become more consistent.
“Nasir is good, but the problem is that he wins a game and then loses momentum and is unable to maintain it,” Faheem said.
“Our boys will need to work harder if they are to improve their rankings,” he added.
Faheem said Pakistan had almost no realistic chance of qualifying for the squash events at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
“There is no chance. It has ended. The winner of the men’s singles event at the Asian Games had to qualify,” Faheem said.
“Only 16 players will compete in the Olympics and we are out,” he was quick to add.
Squash will make its Olympic debut in Los Angeles, with 16 players competing in each of the men’s and women’s events.
Under the qualification framework, places are allocated through continental championships, the host nation, world rankings, a universality place and a final qualifying tournament.
The Asian Games singles champions secured continental qualification, with Malaysia’s Yow Eain Ng and Sivasangari Subramaniam winning the men’s and women’s titles, respectively, in Nagoya.
Pakistan’s chances have almost ended, given the current world rankings of its leading players. Noor Zaman is the country’s highest-ranked player at No 30, followed by Mohammad Ashab Irfan at No 49, Asim Khan at No 77 and Nasir Iqbal at No 95.
Even if a Pakistani player secures a place in the final qualifying tournament, he would still need to win through to reach the Olympics.
Faheem also stressed the importance of competing more regularly on the international circuit.
“Yes, they will need to play eight to ten matches, and I think they have started playing more now,” he said.
Looking ahead, Faheem expressed confidence that Pakistan could win gold at the upcoming 3rd Asian Team Squash Championships which will be held in Islamabad from November 3-7.
“We are confident of winning gold,” he said.
However, he was less optimistic about the standard of women’s squash in Pakistan, saying considerable work remained to bring the players up to international standards.
“They have a long way to go. Their standard is not that good,” Faheem said.