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15/07/2004
Jansher: Squash in Pakistan is dead
Former World Champion Jansher Khan sees little hope of Pakistan retaining their World Junior Team title next month in Islamabad ...
jansher - squash in pakistan is dead
Former World Champion Jansher Khan believes it will be difficult for
Pakistan to retain their World Junior team title when the championships
take place in Islamabad next month. If fact, the situation is so bad
that Pakistan's Dawn Online carried the headline "Squash in Pakistan is dead: Jansher".
 "Our junior
players are over-aged and do not stand much chance of doing
well at the championship," Jansher told Dawn in a telephone interview.
"The Egyptians and the English players are really good and it would not
be therefore right to pin hopes on our boys."
The World Junior Championships start on Aug 17 with several
participating countries, including Pakistan, having already named their
squads for
the team and individual events.
"Squash in Pakistan is dead and unless
the officials of the national federation change their policies, we will
not be able to win anything,"
said Jansher, urging Pakistan's squash managers to concentrate on
younger players.
"It is time for the Pakistan Squash Federation to concentrate on boys
aged between seven and eight and groom them over a period of three or
four years."
Jansher, who won eight World Open and six British Open titles, was not
optimistic about the prospects for Pakistani players reaching the top
twenty. "We need good coaches for tenures of say one year and if they
do not produce results they should be shown the door."
Junior coach, Rehmat Khan, he said has been coaching for some
years now but there has been no improvement. "With such being the state
of affairs, I do not see any Pakistani player making the top 20 in the
years to come."
Jansher called upon the PSF to seek guidance from and use the services
of former
players like himself and Jahangir Khan. "We have spent our best
years in squash and we know what the game is all about. I feel bad
because having done so much
for Pakistan, the federation has always ignored me."
He asked the PSF not to mind his press statements, which at
times were "very harsh". "I keep pointing to the flaws that exist just
because I sincerely want to see squash flourish in the country."
Original story from
Dawn
Men's Junior
World Championships
Dawn
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