SQUASHTALK
TODAY
Bright
Lights
US Doubles
Windy City
Open
TOC
New York
CSA Mens Teams
RECENT
EVENTS
PSA
Swedish Open
WISPA
Vassar
NAO
Doubles
WISPA Greenwich CT
CURRENT
CONTENT
Hall of Fame
News Index
Club Links
Gear Links
E-boast Newsletter
(sign up now free)
Pakistan
Contingent Takes Scottish Junior Open by Storm!
Dec 30, 2001 from The Dawn © 2001 The Dawn, may not be reproduced without express permission.
COLLEGE USA
Schedules
Team previews
DEPARTMENTS
Latest news
Tournament Calendar
Bronstein
Global Gallery
Player of the month
Videos
History
Pakistan Squash
School
Squash
Camp Index
Features Index
Player Profiles
Worldwide Clubs
Worldwide Links
Rankings
Jobs
More Good stuff:
About Squash
Just
starting
Books
Juniors Squash
Women's Squash
Regional Reports
Sunday Dec 30, 2001
Young Pakistanis hog limelight in Scottish Open [Report and scores]
By Khalid Hussain (The Dawn) KARACHI: Pakistan gave signs of a major squash revival in cold Edinburgh this weekend when six of their players entered the finals of the Scottish Junior Open Championships.
In an astonishingly good performance, Pakistani youngsters confirmed a near clean sweep in the boys events of the Scottish Juniors which precedes one of the biggest youth squash events of the international calendar - the British Juniors Open Championships to be played in Sheffield (England) early next month.
So dominating were the Pakistanis that all the three age group finals, including the under-19 competition considered as the showpiece event of a junior tournament, were filled by them by Saturday night. It was just in the under-13 event that no Pakistani will be in the final but that is because they didn't compete in that category.
Out of the twelve semi-finalists in the under-19, under-17 and under-15 event, eight were from Pakistan. All four semi-finalists in the under-19 wore the green flag on their shirts. Third seed Majid Khan, a member of the Pakistan team which finished third in the 2000 World Junior Championships in Milan, was in the under-19 final where he meets countryman Naseem Tehkali.
Majid had a very tough time against fellow Peshawar player Imran Mohib in a thrilling final. In fact he was lucky to beat a spirited Imran who squandered a two-game advantage against his more experienced opponent. Majid lost the first two games 6-9, 3-9 but then slowly took control of the match clinching the next three 9-2, 9-4, 10-8 to enter the final. The going was much easier for seventh seed Naseem Tehkali who thrashed Lahore's Shahnawaz 9-1, 9-2, 9-1 in the other semi-final. Sixth seed Safeer Khan was in the under-17 final after a resounding victory over India's Siddarath Suchde 9-3, 9-1, 9-0. The youngster from the Pakistan Air Force Academy will now meet Peshawar's Khalid Atlas who was a 9-1, 7-9, 9-0, 9-2 winner against Jorge Quientero of Colombia.
The under-15 event also became an all-Pakistan affair after Lahore's Yasir Butt and Farhan Mahboob defeated their respective opponents in the semi-finals. Yasir was in superb form during a 9-1, 9-0, 9-4 victory over Mohammad Azfar Azlan while the third seeded Farhan dropped a game before overcoming Dutch youngster Tom Hoerenaars 10-8, 9-1, 5-9, 9-0.
An eleven-member Pakistani squad was sent by the Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF) for the Scottish and British Junior Open tournaments. The boys went on the British sojourn after months of training as a part of the Golden Junior Development Programme initiated by the PSF earlier this year.
Rahmat Khan is the coach of the team
while Sajid Waheed is the manager.
[More about Squash in Pakistan]
