Squash camp in full swing during Ramazan

Players getting ready for Asian Games and world junior event.

KARACHI:

A training camp organised by the Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF) for the World Junior Championships and the Asian Games is in full swing as players continue to train hard in two sessions a day in Ramazan.

The World Junior Championships will be played in August in Namibia, whereas the Asian Games will be hosted by Incheon, South Korea.

National head coach Jamshed Gul is supervising the camp, which includes senior pros Aamir Atlas and Farhan Mehboob as well as juniors Tayyab Aslam, Ali Bokhari, Israr Ahmed and Asim Khan.

Current Asian junior champion Tayyab and 2013 champion Bokhari are being asked to give their best in training so that they can bring laurels to Pakistan at the global level as well.

“We’ve been training twice a day to prepare for the Asian Games and the World Junior Championships even in Ramazan,” Gul told The Express Tribune.

“So far, everyone has been putting in a lot of effort and the atmosphere in the camp is really motivating.”



Gul, who has helped Pakistan secure titles at the Asian level in both juniors and seniors categories, feel that young prodigies Tayyab and Bokhari can raise their game to fight for the world junior title.

“I have planned to pit Tayyab and Bokhari against seniors Mehboob and Aamir in preparatory matches to improve their gameplay,” explained Gul.

“If the youngsters give the pros a tough time, their confidence will improve automatically and they will give their best to win the championship.”

The coach added that while he believes the Pakistan team can create surprises, it would be prudent to remember that teams from other countries would count on their experience of regularly appearing in different Professional Squash Association tournaments.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 16^th, 2014.

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