Pakistan suffered the biggest-ever humiliation in the 27-year history of Asian junior squash when we, the defending champions, were beaten by India who lifted the trophy in the recently concluded 11-nation championship in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Last year Pakistan also lost the individual title when Waqar Mahboob was defeated in the under-19s final by 2-3 to India’s Rabi Dexit so Pakistan’s unprecedented domination in Asian junior squash was brought to an end by India who, like Malaysia, is emerging as a great force in the region.

It also indicates that the Indian Squash Federation is concentrating more and more on spotting talented teenagers for coaching and training and laying greater emphasis on physical fitness.

The four-member Pakistan team had its three-week training at Peshawar under the supervision of eight-time World Open record holder Jansher Khan, who is the chief coach and advisor to the Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF), before the squad left for Sri Lanka to defend the title. Pakistan was termed the hot favourite to retain the team title.

The team included Danish Atlas Khan, (who is Jansher Khan’s nephew), Nasir Iqbal, Ali Bokhari and Saddamul Haq along with former world-renowned player Mohibullah Khan as team manager. Mohibullah is Jansher’s elder brother.

The nation was in a state of shock and surprise as Pakistan, after its convincing 2-0 victory over Hong Kong in the semi-final, surrendered the team title to India who, now for the first time, has both the titles under its belt.

In the past the PSF used to keep the nation informed regarding the outcome of the team matches as well as the players’ showing in the individual championship. But this factor was missing this time and the squash followers only came to know the result when the team quietly returned home.

According to reliable information, Pakistan number one Danish Atlas lost the opening match to Indian number one Ramul Tendon who won 11-7, 6-11, 11-9, 8-11, 11-9 in a closely contested encounter. Nasir Iqbal put Pakistan on even terms by outplaying India’s Abishek Paradan 11-4, 11-2, 11-3. But in the decider Saddamul Haq turned out to be no match as Mehash Mangaorkar ran through with an 11-7, 11-2, 11-6 victory as India emerged team champions. India had beaten Malaysia 2-0 in the semi-finals.

Final standing order: India, Pakistan, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Japan, Sri Lanka, Kuwait, Singapore, China, Iran and Jordan. Thus the New Year started with a disappointing performance and how we will be faring in the coming individual championship scheduled from June 21-25 at Aaman, Jordan, is anybody’s guess.

The Asian Squash Federation, formed in 1981 in Karachi at the initiative of the Pakistan Squash Federation, has taken a step forward for the promotion of the game in the region by including two more events — under-13 and under-17 — in the June individual championship. Last year we entered the under-15s event along with the under-19s and won both gold and silver as it was an all-Pakistan final.

Pakistan’s failure at Asian junior level shows that we need to broaden the base for spotting talented teenagers by holding trials at Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta, Islamabad and Rawalpindi for which an independent selection committee be appointed by the Federation to pick out the talented boys.

The selected youngsters should be trained and coached under the supervision of coaches appointed by the provincial bodies and the PSF should allocate funds for payment of the coaches or such camps can easily be sponsored by multinational companies.

A tournament for under-15 and under-17s can be organised under the auspices of PSF for the trainees and 16 promising players can be picked for extensive coaching and training at Islamabad. Presently about four to five juniors’ tournaments are held but that is not considered to be enough for selection of youngsters for camp training.

Moreover, the Asian Squash Federation (ASF) can also play a major role to help its affiliated units in arranging a series of matches at the junior and senior levels against Egypt, Australia and leading European nations as it would certainly help in raising the Asian standard.

Pakistan would welcome such a move by the ASF for the promotion of the game in Asia which was the torch bearer of world squash through legendary players like Jahangir Khan and Jansher Khan.Today Pakistan remains no more a force in world squash and even at the Asian level we are on the losing side. It is high time the PSF worked out a five-year plan for taking the game to the grass root level for its progress and development.