KARACHI: The Champion Hunt Initiative Programme for Squash (CHIPS) which gets into action at the PN Roshan Khan-Jahangir Khan squash complex on Sunday has attracted an enormous 106 entries in all the three categories — under-13, under-15 and under-17.

The one-day qualifying rounds take place on the opening day while the main round begins on Monday.

The details of the event were announced by the squash celebrity Jahangir Khan at a press conference at the venue on Saturday. Also present on the occasion were Sayeed Khan, Rashid Ahmed, Riaz Ahmed Siddiqui, Omar Bangash, Ms Farha Syed and Sindh Squash Association president Tahir Khanzada.

Sponsored by Kazim Anwar ADHA Trust to unearth talent, the event carries total prize money of Rs150,000 which has been equally split into three categories.

The 10-time former British Open champion said this is the first time that a private sponsor has come forward to tap the talent at the grassroots level.

It is a long term programme and will yield fruitful results hopefully between three to five years, he maintained.

According to the break-up of entries forwarded to the organisers by the Pakistan Squash Federation, Sindh has entered 38 players followed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 29, Punjab 26, Pakistan Air Force 12 and Balochistan one.

Of the 106 entries, 42 — 14 in each category — have earned direct passage in the main rounds while six qualifiers — two in each category — will complete the 16-man draws apiece on Sunday.

Accommodation will be provided to all outstation players besides a daily allowance of Rs300.

The event is being organised by Karachi City Squash Association in collaboration with Sindh Squash Association. An organising committee headed by Riaz Ahmed Siddiqui has been formed for the smooth functioning of the event.

The organisers also announced top four seeding of the three categories which are as follows.

Under-13: 1-Zeeshan Malik (PAF), 2-Uzair Shoukat (PAF), 3-Hamza Sharif (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), 4-Mavia Hussain (PAF).

Under-15: 1-Abbas Zeb (PAF), 2-Zeeshan Gul (PAF), 3-Junaid Khan (PAF), 4-Talha Alam (Sindh).

Under-17: 1-Mehran Javed (PAF), 2-Mansoor Zaman (PAF), 3-Arsalan Ramzan (Punjab), Fawad Khalil (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa).

Published in Dawn February 1st, 2015

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