July 16, 2002	Tuesday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 5, 1423

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ISLAMABAD, July 15: Pakistan squash players are bracing for a hectic schedule with a string of big tournaments coming up in the next five months.

The Commonwealth Games is the first major event between July 25 and Aug 4 in Manchester for which the Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF) has already named Mansoor Zaman, Shahid Zaman, Shamsul Islam and Farrukh Zaman with Carla Khan a late addition.

In the Games, the Pakistani players will compete in the men’s singles and doubles event while the British-born Carla will be the sole representative in the women’s competition.

The Manchester Games will be followed by the $100,000 Hong Kong Open that runs between Aug 25 and Sep 1 in which the PSF expects to have two players in the main round and another four in the qualifiers. Mansoor and Shahid will feature in the main draw while Ijaz Azmat, Mohammad Ilyas, Shams and Farrukh will go through the qualifying round.

The $60,000 US Open is slated for Sep 10 to 15 after which the action would briefly switch to the domestic front with the start of the Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS) Open due to run in Karachi from Sep 16 to 21.

The Asian Games in the South Korean city of Pusan will be up next, opening on September 29 with an October 14 finish. The PSF has picked Mansoor and Shahid for the Games and both will contest the singles event. Carla, again will be the women’s flag-bearer. She was inducted into the squad only last week after the federation was able to convince the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) and the Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) of her capabilities. The squash managers are confident that she is certain to capture a silver at the Games and might also snatch gold.

The month of October will also see the Chief of the Air Staff Open in Peshawar which has been pencilled in for Oct 20 to 25 and the $140,000 Qatar Classic set for Oct 26 to Nove 2.

The Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) Championship, being organised for the first time ever, will be the last event of the calendar opening on Dec 13.

The PSF officials hope that such a big number of tournaments provide the players an opportunity to improve their international rankings, especially Mansoor who has a good chance of making the top 15.