ISLAMABAD: The trophy of the third edition of Serena Hotels-Chief of Air Staff (CAS) International Squash Championship was unveiled here on Tuesday.

As many as 48 players—37 Pakistanis and 11 foreigners from Austria, Egypt, Netherlands, England, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Jordan—are participating in international championship carrying $25,000 as prize money.

The pre-qualification round of the event was held on Monday here at the Mushaf Squash Complex while a two-day qualification round will start on Wednesday with the final being scheduled for Nov 21.

Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF) secretary Amir Nawaz said during the trophy unveiling ceremony that the federation was hopeful of seeing a Pakistani player in the final of the championship.

“Both Farhan Zaman and Farhan Mehboob are good players and we are hopeful that one of them will make it to the final,” he said while responding to a question about poor performance of Pakistani players in recently-concluded Chief of Army Staff and Chief of Naval Staff international championships.

He also thanked sponsors for supporting the PSF to organise international events in the country.

Published in Dawn, November 16th, 2016