Pakistan fail to impress in junior squash event

Absence of top players keenly felt in British Open 2013.

KARACHI: All players representing Pakistan in the British Junior Open Squash 2013 crashed out of the event, while some failed to appear in the competition due to visa issues.

Notable performances were put up by Muhammad Asim Khan, Kashif Asif and Abdullah Bashir who made their way to the third round in the U-19 category. Khan lost to UK’s Richie Fallows 11-9, 11-1 and 11-7 in 43 minutes, while Portugal’s Pedro Pinto won against Asif, who retired after an injury. Qatar’s Abdulla Al Tamimi thrashed Bashir in straight sets in just 20 minutes.

In earlier rounds, Khan had defeated Pascal Valios in straight sets winning 11-8, 11-7 and 13-11 while Bashir won a five-setter against Switzerland’s Silvio Soom by 5-11, 6-11, 11-6, 11-7 and and 11-5 in main draw round one matches. Pakistan’s duo of Mehmood Mehboob and Ismail Khan had earlier crashed out of the event in the preliminary round.

In the girls’ U19 event, Pakistan’s Samar Anjum was beaten in straight sets by home grown Wmily Whitlock, who registered a score of 11-3, 11-0 and 11-3. In girls U15 competition, Kainat Liaqat lost in straight sets against UK’s Elin Jones.

Top players not included in the event: PSF official

Meanwhile, a Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF) official revealed that the best junior players of the country – Tayyab Aslam, Ali Bokhari – did not feature in the event due to internal differences.

“The age scrutiny issue raised by provincial associations put problems in their participation,” the PSF official told The Express Tribune.

“They were later declared eligible for the tournament but by then it was too late. Had the matter been dealt with quickly, we could’ve entered their names as well.”

Published in The Express Tribune, January 5^th, 2013.