Pakistan confident of good results

From Dawn

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s junior squash players are confident of putting on a good show at the upcoming 15th World Junior Men’s Individual Squash Championship.

The eight-member contingent will participate in the event slated to be held in Chennai, India, from July 29 to August 2.

"I am confident of putting up strong resistance against my rivals in the upcoming ranking tournament," said Pakistan’s emerging young squash player Nasir Iqbal.

Nasir, 17, added: "I have been training under Faheem Gul’s for the past month. His support and guidance during my crucial fixtures will hopefully be an added advantage against my opponents."

The event will see Egypt’s star player Mohamed El Shorbagy defending his title.

Faheem is also travelling along with the team as its coach while squash great Qamar Zaman has been nominated as manager for the five-day tournament by the Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF).

Nasir, who hails from Bannu in the NWFP, pointed out: "This exposure is ultimately going to help me gain experience while my target is to lift a major junior squash title in 2010."

Two female players Zoya Khalid and Maria Toor will also be testing their mettle in the World Junior Women’s Individual Squash Championship.

"There is a huge probability of me making a big difference in the competition by winning some important fixtures in the tournament," claimed the top-ranking national player Maria.

"I am the eighth seed in the tournament that includes 128 female players. But I have had good training, which will now be the test of my professional skills. My international ranking too is likely to improve after a good finish," she concluded.