PESHAWAR: National Junior Boys and Girls Squash Championship will be commencing under the aegis of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Squash Association here at the PAF Hashim Khan Squash Complex from Sept 19, it was announced by the organisers.

Talking to reporters here, former world champion Qamar Zaman informed that all arrangements for the smooth staging of the National Under-13 and Under-15 Junior Squash Championship have already been made. Qamar, who is also vice-president of the Pakistan Squash Federation, disclosed that leading players from the country would be taking part in the event.

He said the association has also decided to hold Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Under-15 Squash Girls Squash Championship wherein players from across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will take part. “The tournaments are part of the association’s yearly calendar and the aim and objective of holding the age groups tournament is to provide much need exposure to the upcoming youngsters throughout the country,” said Qamar.

Asadullah is the top seed in the under-13 category followed by second seed Noor Zaman, third seed Hammad while in the under-15 category Uzair Shoukat, who recently appeared in an international event also, is the top seed followed by Rashid Doulat as second seed and Ahmad Hassan being the third seed.

Among the girls, Laiba Ijaz is the top seeded player in the girls’ under-15 event, followed by Kainat, Nimra Akram and Naeema Khalid. In all, twenty girls will take part in the championship.

“The talent comes from this age group,” said Qamar. “I am sure we will get a world champion from this age group but we need to polish these players for bigger tournaments.

Published in Dawn September 17th, 2016