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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan squash touched its lowest ebb as its players lost to India for the first time at the Asian junior level.
India defeated Pakistan 2-1 in the finals played at the Ratmalana courts of the Sri Lankan Air Force, clinching the boys’ title for the first time.
Pakistan’s Danish Atlas Khan and Sadam-ul-Haq lost to India’s Ramit Tandon and Mahesh Mangaonkar respectively while Nasir Iqbal won his match against Abhishek Pradhan.
The Indian press praised their players’ efforts, highlighting Pakistan’s defeat. Several newspapers declared the defeat as ‘a new history’ in Indian squash while others called it ‘a new beginning’.
“A loss against India in squash is nothing more than shame because they don’t have squash history as we do,” squash legend Jahangir Khan told Dawn on Tuesday.
Jahangir, who won the World Open six times and British Open a record ten times, explained: “None of the Indian players were ever ranked among the top 20, instead our junior players used to defeat India’s senior players during the last several decades.”
He said: “A loss against India is not a good sign at all. The Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF) has to review its policy for uplifting of squash.”
Jahangir, 47, asserted that the PSF had to come up with a plan and the federation must be managed by professionals.
Asked that Jansher Khan has recently been given a role in the PSF for development of the sport, he insisted: “Jansher is no doubt a world champion but you need professionals who have knowledge of converging things, besides having better accountability skills and who ensure merit at all levels.”
It is pertinent to mention that Pakistan’s senior squad is currently being trained by Faheem Gul under whom Pakistan won a gold medal at the Asian Games held in Guangzhou, China, defeating Malaysia in the final.
On PSF's move to start a league to strengthen the base of squash, Jahangir said, “Not many players are appearing in the league.”
Results (finals):
Boys’:
India bt Pakistan 2-1
Ramit Tandon bt Danish Atlas Khan 11-7, 6-11, 11-9, 8-11, 11-9; Nasir Iqbal bt Abhishek Pradhan 11-4, 11-7, 11-3; Mahesh Mangaonkar bt Sadam-ul-Haq 11-7, 11-2, 11-6.
