KARACHI: Egyptian squash authorities might challenge the victory of Hamza Khan in the World Junior Squash championship, saying that he was overage for the event.
Hamza defeated Egypt’s Mohamed Zakaria in the final in Australia on Sunday, becoming the first Pakistani player in 37 years to win the title.
Ashraf Hanafi, an official of Egyptian Squash who is also a member of WSF’s Coaching Commission, has said that he would lodge an official complaint with WSF that Hamza
Khan from Pakistan was overage.
“The issue will be raised with the President, Vice President, and the Executive Director of the Federation [WSF] in a meeting of the Training and Development Committee [of WSF] on Friday in Australia,” stated Hanafi on his Facebook page.
Earlier, the Egyptian Squash News on Tuesday night shared the official results of age tests conducted by the Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF) at AFIRI in Rawalpindi in 2021 in which Hamza was found 17 to 17.6 years of age and was allowed to play in the under-19 category till July 2022.
“This test was done for a group of Pakistani players including Muhammad Hamza Khan, the under-19 world champion.
This test was conducted in January 2021 and determined his [Hamza’s] age at that time between 17 and 17 and a half years, meaning that he is now above 19 years.
It means he is not entitled to play Under-19 stage originally,” stated Sahar Moustafa of Egyptian Squash News.
'The News' made several attempts to contact PSF Secretary Zafaryab Iqbal, but he did not answer calls.
