CAS International Squash Championship: PSF receives majority of entries from Egypt

Federation confident other countries will follow suit in future

KARACHI: Players from Egypt made up the majority of the foreign entries received by the Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF) for the $25,000 Chief of Air Staff (CAS) International Squash Championship in October.

It would be the second time that a $25,000 competition will be played within 12 months in the country.

The Professional Squash Association (PSA) opened up foreign entries in PSA events in Pakistan last year; however, the move is yet to attract players from other countries apart from Egypt.

The qualifying round begins on September 29 in Islamabad.

Compared to last year, the overall security situation in the country has improved, but no expression of interest has been conveyed by the likes of England, South Africa, Malaysia, Netherlands and India.

Malaysian and Hong Kong players did visit Pakistan in 2013 to take part in the Asian Championship, but they have not returned since.

However, PSF secretary Amir Nawaz feels that the Egyptian players’ arrival is good for Pakistan squash and is hopeful that players from other countries would come in the future.

“It’s good for Pakistan squash that Egyptian players aren’t shying away from visiting Pakistan and hopefully, their initiative will prompt players from other countries to follow suit,” Nawaz told The Express Tribune. “We have Lance Beddoes coming from New Zealand, so it’s not an all-Egyptian roster.”

Players who have registered from Eqypt include Omar Abdel Meguid, Karim Ali Fathi, Shehad Essam and Mohamed Abouelghar.

In addition, players of Pakistani descent residing in other countries will be participating in the event as well, including Austrian Aqeel Rehman.

Nawaz added that Pakistan squash is heading in the right direction in terms of regaining the faith of international squash fraternity.

“We’re confident we will see top players of the world in Pakistan once we start getting $50,000 and $70,000 PSA events,” said Amir. “Even now, world number 11 Karim Abdel Gawad of Egypt entered his name, only to pull out later due to schedule issues.”

The PSF secretary said that all top players of Pakistan will be playing in the competition apart from Amir Atlas Khan and Farhan Zaman, who are busy playing in the PSA circuit in the US.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 24^th, 2015.

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