KARACHI, May 30: National squash champion Shahid Zaman will represent Pakistan in the World Games to be held in Germany later this summer. Shahid, a world number 17, would join most of the world’s top players in the Games to be staged under the patronage of International Olympic Committee.

World number ones Thierry Lincou (France) and Rachael Grinham (Australia) head world class fields in this year’s Games, the multi-sport event, which features top-stars in various other sports as well.

The 2005 World Games will feature 3,500 athletes from 100 nations, competing at 27 venues in 40 sports ranging from sumo to squash.

The squash action will be staged in Mulheim an der Ruhr, near Duisburg, on July 16-19.

Players from 20 countries across the five continents will compete for the squash titles won in Finland in 1997 by Australia’s Sarah Fitz-Gerald and Egyptian Ahmed Barada.

In addition to world champion Lincou, the men’s field will feature world No5 Peter Nicol, world No8 James Willstrop and world No9 Nick Matthew (all Great Britain); world No11 Karim Darwish (Egypt); world No14 Joseph Kneipp (Australia); world No15 Ong Beng Hee (Malaysia); Matthew Giuffre (Canada); Stefan Leifels (Germany); Mark Krajcsak (Hungary); Steve Richardson (Ireland); Tommy Berden (Netherlands); Rodney Durbach (South Africa); Christian Drakenberg (Sweden); and Lars Harms (Switzerland).—PPI