KARACHI, May 17: Squash celebrity Jahangir Khan said on Saturday that the status of Roshan Khan junior open squash championship is likely to be raised to international level from next year.

“It’s just a beginning to acknowledge the contribution of my illustrious father and a former British Open champion, who died some two years back after protracted illness,” he told a press conference at the launch of the competition at PN Roshan-Jahangir squash complex.

The 10-time former British Open champion said there is likelihood that the event may also be converted to the seniors with a big purse to make it more attractive and glamorous in future.

He applauded the Pakistan Sports Trust (PST), Pakistan Navy and other sponsors for their contribution in launching the venture which is to cost approximately Rs0.8 million including total prize money of Rs0.3 million.

PST, he said, has contributed Rs0.7 million while the Navy which had a long association with the deceased has extended the lodging, boarding and venue facilities.

Meanwhile, a total of 141 youth — 81 competing in various boys’ qualifiers and 60 placed directly in the main rounds for boys and girls events — from across the country have turned up.

Shoaib Hasan from Punjab has been top seeded in boys’ U-19 main round followed by Naved Alam from Sindh.

According to prize money break-up, the boys U-19 winner will get Rs11,400 while runner-up will receive Rs7,800. A sum of Rs60,000 has been set aside for U-19 event.

Similarly, the boys U-17 winner will earn Rs9,500 whereas the losing finalist will get Rs6,500 from Rs50,000 allocated for the category.

Another substantial amount of Rs40,000, Rs30,000 and Rs20,000 would be disbursed in boys U-15, U-13 and U-11 events.

The girls U-19 champion will fetch Rs6,650 while Rs4,550 will go the runner-up out of Rs35,000.

Enormous amount of Rs30,000, Rs20,000 and Rs15,000 will be distributed among girls U-17, U-15 and U-13.

The two-day qualifiers which commenced on Saturday are set to conclude on Sunday. The main round begins from Monday.

Results: (Qualifying round one)

Boys’ U-15:

Fazal Mehmood (PAF) bt Shamsheer Khan (Sindh) 9-0, 9-0, 9-1.

Boys’ U-17:

Nouman Zaman (Sindh) bt Asif Zafar (NWFP) 10-9, 9-4, 9-7; Suleman (NWFP) bt Ebadur Rehman (Sindh) 9-0, 9-0, 9-0; M. Fazal (Sindh) bt Aftab Alam (Sindh) 9-0, 9-0, 9-0.

Boys’ U-19:

Fahad Khan (Balochistan) bt Tahir Ali (Punjab) 9-2, 9-0, 9-1; Owais Rahim (Punjab) bt M. Umair (Punjab) 9-1, 9-6, 9-7; Asif Khan (NWFP) bt Khalil Mehboob (Punjab) 9-5, 9-1, 9-4; Farhan Zaman (Navy) bt Sarfraz Rehman (Sindh) 9-0, 9-0, 9-0; Ayazullah Khan (NWFP) bt Jahangir Azam (Balochistan) 9-1, 9-2, 9-1.

Sunday’s fixtures:

Qualifying rounds 9.30am.