The recently concluded Asian Squash Championships once again exhibited Pakistan’s Achilles Heel
FINALLY, there’s some good news for Pakistan in the world of squash. But where we managed to win the world Team title, it was also heartbreaking to see that we also failed for the third successive year in capturing the individual title, during the recently concluded 12th Asian Senior Squash Championship at Kuala Lumpur.
There was a time when the championship, instituted in 1981, was dominated by Pakistan. When winning both the individual and the team championships used to be a guaranteed affair.
Pakistan had a long list of Asian champions that have been headed by former British Open great, Qamar Zaman Khan (two) and the legendary Jahangir Khan (two titles); Mir Zaman Gul (2) and Zarak Jahan Khan (2). In fact Zarak was the last Pakistani Asian champion when he defeated Malaysian Kennith Low at Kuala Lumpur.
However, it has been six years now that we have completely failed to produce an Asian champion from our new generation of players. And this despite the fact that they have been provided all possible help and incentive by the Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF).
Left-handed Mansoor Zaman, currently ranked nineteen in the world rankings, is Pakistan’s leading player. He is followed, closely by his cousins Shahid Zaman, Farrukh Zaman and Majid Khan. Both Farrukh and Majid made their maiden appearance in the Asian Senior Championship, while Mansoor and Shahid carry rich international experience. They have been in the world circuit for a considerably long time. But alas, this experience has failed to yield any Asian Championship.
Mansoor faced the Malaysian, World No 20 Ong Beng Hee for the third successive time. And yet again, he failed to re-establish Pakistan’s total domination in the individual championship. Mansoor had suffered defeats against Beng Hee in the 2000, 2002 and now in 2004 championships, he lost to the Malaysian Number One, one game to three.
In order to regain it’s lost glory, Pakistan has engaged former international Jamshed Gul as coach of the senior team. But the outcome at the Malaysian capital was disgusting. How many more years do we need to produce an Asian champion, is any body guess.
However, in the team event Pakistan retained the title for the 12th successive time, when we defeated Malaysia, 2-1, in the final. After Farrukh Zaman lost the opener to Kenneth Low, 1-3, Mansoor put a commendable performance against Asian champion Ong Beng Hee to take sweet revenge for his defeat in the individual event. Mansoor won by an identical margin of 3-1 and Pakistan was back in the game.
The decisive third match went to the full distance before Shahid Zaman emerged victorious by 3-2 over Azlan Iskander and Pakistan retained the team trophy. Winning the team title is an achievement of collective efforts. But to become the Asian Champion or the World Champion is a different proposition altogether.
Pakistan today has no world champion, and neither does it enjoy an Asian champion with the result that the nation seems to have lost interest in the game. We seem to be still living in the unprecedented feats of our former world champions, Jahangir Khan and Jansher Khan, a glorious past that is squash history.
Let our new generation of players realize their national responsibility by fully committing themselves to strenuous training without which they cannot succeed in regaining Pakistan lost glory.
Final standing in team event;
1-Pakistan,
2- Malaysia,
3-India,
4-Kuwait,
5-Hong Kong,
6-South Korea,
7-Japan,
8-Jordan,
9-Singapore,
10-Indonesia,
11-Chinese Taipie,
12 Macaou.
Staying with squash, this year our women too participated for the first time in the 23-year history of Asian Championship. This show that the PSF is now committed to promoting the game among the girls in a planned way.
Women squash has been neglected for many years. That is why we never bothered to send our female competitors to any competition. The team this year included Maria Toor, Saira Awan, Muqaddas Ashraf and Gul Zaman.
The participation in the eight-nation championship will definitely help promote squash among girls. All the four girls, as expected, lost in the first round of the individual championship. Lack of any previous international exposure had confirmed their loss beforehand. However, Pakistan’s 2-0 victory over Sri Lanka, through Muqaddas and Maria, helped the team secure its only win in the championship and thus secure a seventh place.
More international exposure to our girls is necessary to help them work hard and sharpen their skills. To this end, more domestic tournaments should be organized, something that the Punjab Squash Association is already engaged in. One should admire their efforts in promoting the game among the women and the response they have been receiving has been highly encouraging. The other three provincial associations should take note and follow Punjab’s initiative.
The recently concluded Asian Squash Championships once again exhibited Pakistan’s Achilles Heel 
