ISLAMABAD: Egypt’s Omer Abdul Meguid on Sunday clinched the Chief of Army Staff International Squash Championship defeating Malaysia’s Ivan Yuen in straight games here at the Mushaf Squash Complex.

Gracing the closing ceremony, Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif gave away trophies to the winner and runner-up with Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF) president Air Chief Marshal Sohail Aman also being in attendance.

Top seed in the tournament and world No. 28 Meguid comfortably won the first game 11-8 with Yuen, who is world No. 53 and had made the final having defeated Hong Kong’s Tsz Fing Yip in a well-contested five game semi-final, looking tired leading to his lackluster performance in the first game.

Having won the first game, the Egyptian played more aggressively in the next two games outclassing his Malaysian opponent 11-5 and 11-4 respectively and thus registered a straight victory in the final.

On the occasion, the Chief of Army Staff talked to guest players asking them about their training sessions in addition to having chitchat with Pakistan players, especially with juniors who recently won the World Junior Squash Championship after defeating defending champions Egypt.

Three more international tournaments, carrying prize money of $25,000 each, will be played in Pakistan in the next three months with the next championship being scheduled to start on Oct 15.

Notwithstanding Pakistan hosts international events, its chance to win the title is very dim considering the fact that despite playing in home condition no Pakistan player succeeded to win the title; with Pakistan Tayyab Aslam being the sole player to have made the last four in the just-ended COAS squash event but suffered defeat at the hands of Meguid.

When contacted, squash legend Jansher Khan said that players’ poor fitness level triggered their defeat. “Our players are very skilled but their fitness level is not up to the mark which leads to their defeat,” maintained the former world champion.

“It’s not that the players are not provided with facilities but the fact is that they are least interested in working on improving their fitness level which contributes to their failure at international level,” he remarked.

“I used to engage myself in eight-hour workout daily but modern-day players hardly do two-hour exercise which easily results in their poor show,” reckoned Jansher while talking about Pakistan players’ poor performance in international events.

“It pains me to see foreign players win tournaments in Pakistan without facing any resistance from

our players,” lamented a dejected Jansher who bemoaned organizers’ failure to invite him to the final of COAS squash event, stating: “What could one

say about future of squash in Pakistan particularly when I see organisers being not bothered to invite former players like me to the final of the COAS squash event.”

Published in Dawn October 3rd, 2016