Missing out on Asian Squash championship big setback

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan squash touched the lowest ebb as not a single flag-bearer (men and women) has been drawn into the 22nd Asian Individual Squash Championships that started in Hong Kong on Tuesday.After missing out on the World Squash Championship (Individual) it was another blow to Pakistan squash. It has happened for the first time in the modern era that Pakistan’s name was missing out on a top continental championships.

The country that has a history of producing champions thus will not be represented in draws where Eain Yow Ng (Malaysia) has been seeded No 1 in the men’s ranking while Japanese Satomi Watanabe (Japan) is ranked No 1 in women's field. Surprisingly, neither an inquiry was conducted nor an eyebrow raised within the Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF) when Pakistan's absence at the World Championship was highlighted by ‘The News’.

The only decision coming out of the federation’s think-tank was not to send a single entry for men and women Asian individuals while chances are there that instead of a player, an official may be sent to have a good time in an apparent excuse of attending one meeting or the other. Squash in Asia is hardly confined to five to six countries and to see the Pakistan flag missing from the competitors' list is surprising for all those who have been pinning high hopes on the future of Pakistan squash.

Players from India, Malaysia Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Chinese Taipei, Indonesia, and hosts all will be there but the country which has produced so many champions in the past and even in recent years will miss out on this prestigious event. Even the players' parents are highly concerned and have taken up the matter with the PSF as to why no entry was sent for the Asian Championship.

“My son is one of the top performers, yet he was denied entry into Asian Championship. I am sure he would have made the country proud by winning the event as the field is not too strong and Pakistan were having a good chance of making inroads and emerging as a strong force at the Asian level. Yet we were denied the opportunity,” the player’s father told ‘The News’.

Even the father of a women player was optimistic about his daughter's chances. “My daughter is in great form and she feels she was having a very bright chance of upsetting top players and making a name for the country. I am surprised that no player has been given a chance to represent the country at the Asian level. How our kids will improve from here on.