The recently concluded World Open was little more than a big PR exercise as Pakistan gained very little from it
ELEVENTH seeded Amr Shabana re-wrote the World Open squash history by becoming the first Egyptian ever to crown himself with glory in the biggest prize money mega-event that witnessed several upsets in Lahore last week.
Twenty-four year-old left-handed Shabana from Cairo, who was declared the Player of the Month in the July issue of Squash Player, for winning the $45,000 Spanish Open, took the world by complete surprise. After removing Australia’s third seeded defending champion David Palmer, in the third-round of the 64-player main draw, Shabana continued on his giant-killing performance with a 3-1 victory over fourth seeded Thiery Linco of France, the first Frenchman, ever to qualify for the World Open.
Twenty-seven year-old Linco played in the true spirit of the sportsmanship, never disputing the decisions of the referee while Shabana contested several decisions. Linco looked exhausted in the fourth game in title battle against aggressive Shabana who unquestionably, gave a skillful display of all-court game to emerge the new champion of the world.
The audience enjoyed the final on a costly Rs8 million portable all-glass court. The Lahore mega-event witnessed major upsets, unprecedented in 28-year history of the World Open as all the three top seeded players suffered shock defeats. World No 1, Peter Nicol from England, second seed John White of Scotland and Australian third seed and defending champion, David Palmer were out before entering the quarter-finals.
Shabana, the second Egyptian to reach the World Open final after Ahmed Barada in 1999, was delighted to win the world crown in Pakistan, a country which has produced a number of world beaters. The list starts with the legendary Jahangir khan, record holder of ten successive wins in the prestigious British Open and winner of six World Open. And then there is the great Jansher Khan, who established a new record of eight wins in the World Open and also won the British Opens six times. Former British Open winner Qamar Zaman and British amateur champion Gogi Alauddin were among the special invites who watched the final. They congratulated Shabana for his sensational and great victory. But they must have been saddened to see that none of the Pakistanis even reached the third round of the World Open, staged for the fourth time in Pakistan.
The most frustrating aspect of the World Open was the elimination of Pakistan’s top player Mansoor Zaman, the world number 13, who after winning the first round suffered a 1-3 defeat in the second round at the hands of Finland’s World No 24 Tuominen. Ironically, the Finn had already defeated the Pakistani ace in Qatar Classic two weeks before the Lahore mega event. Mansoor’s cousins, Shahid Zaman (World No 41) and Farrukh Zaman, who were also in the main round, were first round losers.
However, World No 75 Arshad Iqbal Burki, who was among the four Pakistani qualifiers, showed promise with his sensational victory over Canadian World No 27 Shehier Razik. Promising Burki stretched Holland’s World No 34 Tommy Berden to the limit before losing the 67-minute second-round encounter 2-3. Burki demonstrated a great fighting quality. He is one of the three trainees of world renowned coach Rehmat Khan, hired by the PSF last year, for the coaching of talented youngsters. Two other qualifiers of the coaching camp were Safeerullah and Saeed Hasan were also beaten in the first round and international Shamsul Islam Khan, also a qualifier, failed to cross the first hurdle.
In such a situation the nation feels humiliated as none of our players reached the third round or the quarterfinals. It only shows the decline of our competitive standard, whether we will be able to revive our lost glory cannot be said with any amount of confidence.
Despite all possible incentives and facilities extended by the Pakistan Squash Federation, our top players, including Mansoor and Shahid, so far have failed to commit themselves professionally to hard and strenuous training without which they cannot be a potential threat in international squash.
Last year, Pakistan regained the World Junior Team Championship after a lapse of about 29 years. It strengthens one’s belief that this lot of talented youth, if given more external exposure, can make an impact on the world squash scene in three to four years.
Top flight squash is a different ball-game, especially if compared with what the juniors have faced so far. Several world-famed juniors failed at the higher level for their lack of professional commitment and hard work . Top flight squash needs extraordinary physical fitness to stay on the court to overcome the challenges.
The highly expensive World Open, jointly organized by the PSF and the Punjab Squash Association, could be a matter of great pride and satisfaction for the organizers. But the abject failure of our players remains a cause of great concern for the impartial observers of squash, a game in which Pakistan had ruled the world.
Let us change our priorities as holding of big prize money tournament on a costly imported court might not help in producing world class players unless all energy is at producing world beaters. The task is highly challenging and demanding, but can be achieved through professional commitment by players and those responsible for promotion and development of the game in every part of the country.
The recently concluded World Open was little more than a big PR exercise as Pakistan gained very little from it 
