ISLAMABAD: A team of experts from the World Squash Federation (WSF) is likely to visit Pakistan to assess the available facilities at the Pakistan Sports Complex, Islamabad for the 2021 World Junior Championship.

“The WSF can send its experts if it deems appropriate to inspect the facilities for holding the [2021] event,” Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF) secretary Group Captain Tahir Sultan told APP on Monday.

“Pakistan along with a number of other countries had placed the bid with the WSF to host the championship. We’ve not been given the dates of the [likely] visit but it is a WSF rule that it sends a team of experts to assess the facilities in a country that places a bid for the event,” added the PSF secretary.

He said that it was also the WSF prerogative to allot the event or not to a country, adding that the PSF was hopeful that Pakistan would be chosen to hold the said championship.

According to Tahir, the PSF had submitted all the necessary material with the WSF for hosting the championship wherein around 150 to 200 players from different countries would be seen in action.

Pakistan last staged the championship in 2004, meaning if the PSF succeeds in winning the bid it will be after around 17 years that the squash lovers in the country will get the opportunity to witness a significant number of international players displaying their skills. “If allotted the event, we will prove that we are a great host nation with great squash facilities,” Tahir maintained.

Earlier, the PSF won the bid to host the 2021 Asian Senior Individual Championship.

Published in Dawn, July 23rd, 2019