ISLAMABAD: The main round of high-profile Serena Hotels President of Pakistan Gold Cup International Squash Championship will commence from Saturday here at the Mushaf Squash Complex.

The championship carrying a bumper prizemoney of $250,000 has attracted seven international and 41 national players. In the main draw, a total of 16 players will participate including four qualifiers.

“The qualifying round is under process, we hope four best players will move into main round to join 12 top seed,” said Amir Nawaz, secretary of the Pakistan Squash Federation.

Earlier, while addressing a press conference here at Serena Hotel, Amir Nawaz appreciated the efforts of the hosts for lending a helping hand to the federation for promoting squash. Air Commodore and Director Media Affairs PAF Syed Mohammad Ali and squash legend Qamar Zaman were also present on the occasion.

During the presser, the trophies of winner and runner-up were also unveiled. Speaking on the occasion, Amir said a total of 48 players are participating in the event including 41 Pakistan players and seven foreign campaigners. He said that the main round will start on Saturday while the final will be played on Nov 10.

The secretary said that it is a great success for the PSF which has held two mega international events in a short span of time. Last month, the PSF organised Chief of Air Staff Inte­r­national Squash Championship won by Egypt’s Abouelghar who defeated compatriot Omar Abdel Meguid.

However, this time around, Abouelghar is not coming to Pakistan for this event. According to the PSF, Meguid who is world No.35 is the top seed, followed by compatriot Karim Ali Fathi Nasir Iqbal (No.44), USA’s Todd Harrity (No.61) Danish Atlas Khan (No.66), Tayab Aslam (No.81), Austria’s Aqeel Rehman (No.113) and Khawaja Adil Maqbool (No.108).

The PSF has also given wild card entry to promising youngster Abbas Shoukat.

Speaking on the occasion, Qamar Zaman criticised the Pakistan players for not improving fitness levels which he said has been affecting their performance.

Published in Dawn, November 6th, 2015

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