ISLAMABAD - Pakistan squash team head coach Jamshed Gul has said that Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF) will hold a training camp for the Asian Junior Squash Championship from January 10 at the Mushaf Ali Mir Squash Complex.
Talking to TheNation, Jamshed said that the event will be held in South Korea from February 20 to 24, 2013.
“The top ranked under-19 players of country will be called for the open trials and from which top six will be shortlisted and four of them will contest in championship while two others will accompany the squad to gain international exposure,” he disclosed.
He said for the first time they would hold woman players’ trials to select four women to contest in the Asian Juniors event after a gap of almost eight years.
“The training camps for men and women have more than five weeks duration that will help a lot to our players. The players would be trained in two sessions daily. The first session will start at 7:30am to 10am and the second will begin from 2pm to 5pm,” he asserted.
“We will focus on physical fitness, skills and mental toughness while lectures will also be imparted daily. The senior players will be called to train and spar with the youngsters who will help the kids’ in getting confidence and experience.”
“The Asian Senior Individual Squash Championship will be held in Islamabad in May 2013 while World Men’s Team Squash event will be played in France in July 2013. I would like to prepare a very strong team for these events,” he added.
“I am grateful to Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF) president Air Chief Marshal Tahir Rafique Butt for giving maximum PSA events to players to boost their morale and improving their PSA world rankings.”
“One name without whom I can’t even think of achieving such results is SVP Air Vice Marshal Syed Razi Nawab, who had given me full support and pose confidence in my abilities for promotion squash in the country,” he said.
“We have already shown that boys are by no means lack behind any top player of the world but due to non-participation in PSA events, their ranking badly suffered and we will first work for improving that and also try to reach the summit in world rankings,” he stated.
He said to regain the lost squash glory and to accomplish the upcoming tasks, they needed big money as without pumping substantial funds, they could not even think about finishing near the top.
“I must confess that the government has done nothing on its part, when a cricket team or hockey team return, they were blessed with countless benefits, but when we after  winning the Asian Senior Squash Championship without the top players Aamir Atlas Khan and Yasir Ali Butt, neither President nor Prime minister bother to even issue a word of appreciation. Under these circumstances and step motherly treatment with the squash players, how could we expect from our players to perform and excel,” he questioned.
He urged President and PM to invite the gold medal winning team and give them their long overdue incentives, as that would certainly boost the morale of the players and inspire them to win more for the country.
He said government must announce a special grant for the squash federation just like England, Egypt, Malaysia, India, Hong Kong and other nations had done, by doing so, they had secured the future of their players and that was the main reason their players were taking giant strides and creating waves in the world of squash.
“It is the high time that multinationals, national institutes, banks, airlines and other well to dos must come forward and provide us with substantial amount of funds. If provided with satisfactory funds, it is my promise I will give country a world champion within a short span of time,” Jamshed concluded.
–Mohsin Ali