Pak squash players to train in Egypt: a 'painful moment' for Pakistan squash from our correspondent April 17, 2019
KARACHI: Pakistan Squash
Federation’s decision to send few players to Egypt for training has
received strong criticism from squash lovers.
Senior sports journalist Mirza Iqbal Baig posted on his Twitter account
that “Pak Squash Federation is sending six Jr players for training to
Egypt. What PAF Academy Peshawar & PSF Academy Islamabad r doing
where we have got some good coaches?
“Such type of experience has been done in the past too & couldn’t get result. President PSF must take notice of it.”
Kashif Khaira, a squash fan, replied to this tweet “This is alarming.
Totally agreed when we have ‘best coaches’, why we are sending our
players abroad”.
An international coach while talking to this scribe termed this a very ‘painful moment’ for Pakistan squash.
“They [PSF management] are ready to pay high amount for short time to
other coaches. But when time comes to support senior players for PSA
tournaments abroad and to pay appropriate package to qualified coaches
in Pakistan, then they don’t have funds,” said the coach.
He added that “They don’t think for the country. They only seek their
personal tours and benefits. They have ruined Pakistan squash. It’s a
very painful moment for Pakistan Squash”.
The coach said ruefully that “For their own kids they want best
teachers or coaches but when time comes for Pakistan squash, then they
don’t care. Coach plays very important role in a player’s life”.
Secretary Sindh Squash Association (SSA) Mohammad Amir Khan pointed out
why Jahangir Khan academy in Karachi is not being utilized to train
national players.
PSF paid Rs four million to Jahangir Khan Academy but it produced
extremely disappointing results since its establishment in March 2016
with 10 players and two courts initially.
“This academy project was a classic example of failure. Many coaches
left the academy due to issues with the management. Now, there are
hardly any players left in the academy,” said Amir.
Jahangir Khan had launched an academy before this current one in Karachi but it was shut down very soon.
It is to be noted that Pakistan National Squash Academy (PNSA) in
Islamabad is the one and only national squash academy in the country.
Besides, there is a Benazir Bhutto Squash Complex in Rawalpindi where
two coaches are available to train the players of Rawalpindi/Islamabad
region. PSF last year hired one additional coach for the said complex.
PSF also launched an academy in Peshawar in 2015. “We have doubled the
number of players, from 16 to 32, in our academy at Peshawar and eight
coaches are training them. Lahore already has a good academy set up,”
said then PSF secretary Amir Nawaz while talking to ‘The News’.
It seems that squash academies in the country failed to serve their
purpose since there are no long term gains as they completely ignore
two main aspects: having qualified coaches and focusing on beginners.
