PSF expects top-six finish in Asian event

Maria Toor Pakay to be key player in national girls’ squash team.

KARACHI:

Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF) Secretary Amir Nawaz is expecting the girls’ team to finish in the top-six in the upcoming Asian Team Championship to be played in Hong Kong from June 11.

The four-member team, which will be participating in the Asian event, includes Maria Toor Pakay, Samar Anjum, Riffat Khan and Muqaddas Ashraf.

Promising youngster Sadia Gul has been sidelined due to an injury.

“The PSF expects the girls to finish at least in the top-half of the Asian Championship,” Amir told The Express Tribune.

“Obviously, we can’t expect a lot from them but they should at least cement their place among the top six countries in the upcoming tournament.”

Reflecting on the strength of the team, he stressed that much would depend on how Maria plays, but she too will need support from the likes of Samar and Muqaddas.

There are concerns that the women’s squash has not been able to flourish as expected by the PSF when it started to promote the game seriously in the last three years.

The results have not met the expectations that the PSF had from the girls and desired outcomes are yet to be achieved.

Amir accepted the fact that girl’s game had not risen the way it was expected because the female players were usually unable to attend the national training camps for longer periods due to several reasons.

“There are various reasons which do not allow the girls to remain in the training camps for longer periods, with one of them being education.”

Meanwhile, head coach Jamshed Gul was of the opinion that these players have been spending more time with their provincial squash association coaches while he hardly gets time to work with them.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 26^th, 2014.

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