Malcolm Willstrop's letter

At the risk of being accused of having unworthy motives, I feel that the return of a large number of Pakistani junior players to world levels has brought its problems.

Many of the matches in which their players have been involved in the World U19 and British Junior Open Championships have been physical and contentious, often because Pakistani players do not clear properly, especially in the front corners and also because they are not much interested in playing the ball. They much prefer to be awarded lets and strokes, and the roars of Pakistani approval that greeted strokes in Safeerullah Khan’s favour in the British U19 Open final were ample evidence of the philosophy.

In the World U19 Team final between James Willstrop and Khayal Muhammad, there were 33 appeals, 32 of them by the Pakistani, even though he scored only three points!

Majid Khan, who also played in the World Team final, appeals or complains after every rally that does not go in his favour. One referee, Chris Sinclair, sorted him out and was scheduled to referee him again in the final. But Rehmat Khan, illegally in my view, had him moved to the top string match.

Much of the excitability in the Pakistan camp at the British Junior Open emanated from their Secretary General, who held continual conversations with players on court from his front row position.

He seemed to bring the worst out of Rehmat Khan, who unbelievably at one point verbally assaulted referee John Massarella in front of the packed crowd – out of order and very undignified.

Another aspect of the Pakistan revival that does not go down well is their triumphalistic celebrations in victory. Raising Safeerullah Khan, a less than outstanding winner of the British Open U19 title, shoulder high and chanting ‘Pakistan’ is not endearing to opponents, players or neutral onlookers.

Onmeya Abdel Kawy, the real star of the British Junior Open, recording her sixth open victory with a display of real class, was greeted in dignified fashion by the Egyptian supporters and officials. If anyone deserved to be raised shoulder high it was Omneya, not Safeerullah.

Added to all this is the problem of age, which has followed the Pakistanis year after year. One of the worst examples was Hussein at the world junior championships in Princeton in 1998. Well informed opinion had him at 23 or 24. More recently Ahmed Barki was sent home from Chennai because of age ‘discrepancies’.

On their return Pakistan have been immediately successful at the highest levels.

Everyone who coaches at world level knows that world class players do not appear out of the clouds, however good the system.

Malcolm Willstrop