LAHORE: Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF) has devised a performance-oriented plan under which it will sponsor top four national players to compete in international competitions.
“The prime objective of this incentive is to help promising players feature in international squash tournaments so that they can get the much needed exposure and confidence,” the federation’s Vice President AVM Razi Nawab told APP on Monday.
“The PSF will do all it can to revive the lost glory of squash in the country,” he added.
According to the proposed plan, PSF will fully sponsor the participation of top four national players in two elite international squash tournaments and will also further assist them, provided they produce the desired results.
“The vision of PSF’s President focuses on encouraging squash players by ensuring their participation in international tournaments. This will help them to learn the finer points of the game and to improve their world ranking,” Nawab said.
The plan also includes an incentive, where a player who manages to qualify for the quarter-finals of an international event carrying a purse of $30,000, will be fully sponsored.
A player who reaches the semi-finals of a $20,000 tournament will also be fully sponsored.
“We want to give ample opportunity to the top four players to compete at international level and to make gradual progress by showing good results,” he said.
Nawab said it was imperative that the top players regularly participate in international tournaments to better the level of their game by playing against top ranking players of the world.
“PSF is working under a long term plan with the cooperation of all the provincial bodies to enlarge the activity programme at grassroots level. The recent national junior championships in all major cities speak volume of our efforts,” he said.
PSF will also invite top eight players to attend a training camp under the supervision of national coach Fahim Gul in coming months.
