ISLAMABAD, Feb 20: The death Thursday of Air Chief Marshal Mushaf Ali Mir, the head of the Pakistan Squash Federation, in a plane crash, will be a setback at a time just when the sport was picking up.

The efforts that the 56-year-old Mushaf put in ever since taking over the reins of PSF two years ago, were beginning to pay dividends with Pakistan winning the World Junior Championship and a trio of juniors capturing the British Open crowns only last month.

The titles were won as much on court by the players as they were by a dynamic hard-thinking administrator who had style and vision. It was Mushaf who knew that the answer to Pakistan’s squash woes was to concentrate more on the juniors. And he did exactly that, launching a Junior Development Programme under coach Rehmat Khan.

The programme did to Pakistan squash what fertiliser would do to a baby plant. A team of juniors led by Khayal Muhammad travelled to Chennai (India) in December and returned for the first time in more that two decades with the World Junior trophy. Mushaf took squash seriously, unlike his predecessor.

Then a party was dispatched for the Junior British Open in January that came back with their hands full. Again Mushaf saw to it that he took time out from his important commitments to greet the players and give them cash prizes.

His love for squash couldn’t be more evident as he came down to the Roshan Khan Complex on Feb 8 to witness the entire team finals of the Asian Junior Championship. Pakistan were the proud winners. Mushaf gave away the prizes in what was to be his last public appearance at a squash event.

While the juniors brought smiles to Mushaf’s face, the seniors did not. His open criticism of the senior players including Mansoor Zaman and Shahid Zaman for not working as hard as he had wanted them to, may not have gone down well with some people.