KARACHI, July 12: A four-member national squash squad for the 2003 World Men’s Team squash championship will be finalised after trials in Islamabad in September.
A Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF) official said on Saturday that no player will be exempted from the trials to be conducted by the federation in the last week of September.
Air Vice Marshal Raashid Kalim, Senior Vice President of the PSF who was in Karachi on an official visit, said that the top eight players of the country including Pakistan No. 1 Mansoor Zaman and No. 2 Shahid Zaman will compete in the trials.
Earlier, it was expected that the PSF will exempt Mansoor, world No. 17 and his cousin from the World Championships’ trials.
Six time champions Pakistan will take part in the 2003 World Men’s Team Championships to be held in Vienna (Austria) from October 19 to 25.
Pakistan, who last won the world team title in 1993 when legends Jahangir Khan and Jansher joined hands to help them beat Australia 3-0 in the final in Karachi, finished a poor 12th position in the previous edition of the biennial tournament held in Melbourne (Australia) in 2001.
But AVM Raashid hoped that his team will give a much better show in Vienna after undergoing extensive training in Islamabad under national coach Rahmat Khan.
The top six players of the country including Mansoor and Shahid are already attending the World Championship training camp while two more players are expected to join them in the camp soon.
The players will continue training with Rahmat till the national trials are held end of September, Raashid said.
The PSF official said that the trials will be held on a single league basis after which the top four players will be selected to be a part of the Pakistan squad for the World Championships.
He said that the players’ positions in the world rankings or their past performance in international events will not be considered while selecting the national team.
Meanwhile, defending champions Australia have announced their team for the Championships. World Champion David Palmer, currently ranked two in the world, will be joined by Stewart Boswell (No. 6), Anthony Ricketts (No. 7) and Joseph Kneipp (No. 13), with Paul Price (No. 21) as reserve and Byron Davis as the team coach.
The Brisbane pair of Ricketts and Kneipp will make their world team debuts, while Palmer, the world champion from Lithgow, New South Wales, and Stewart Boswell, from Canberra, will be aiming to add to their medal haul from 2001 when Australia recorded a record seventh World Team title in Melbourne.
Australia lead the list of around 30 nations likely to participate in the Championships.
The other participating teams include last time’s finalists
Egypt, England, Scotland, France, South Africa, Malaysia, Canada, Wales, Ireland, Pakistan, Finland, Netherlands, Germany, New Zealand, Hong Kong, USA, Austria, Japan, Kuwait, Spain, Bermuda, Zimbabwe, Switzerland, Italy, Slovenia, Russia, Brazil, Czech Republic and Korea.—PPI