Pakistani players eager to excel in British Junior Open Squash.

Byline: Mohsin Ali

ISLAMABAD -- Pakistani junior team suffered huge setback in their pursuit of winning the British Junior Open Squash Championship 2019 as U-19 category dark horse Uzair Shoukat's England visa was not issued despite filing the application well before time.

Talking to The Nation on Tuesday, Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF) Secretary Group Captain Tahir Sultan confirmed that visa of Uzair Shoukat is yet to be received and now it would be impossible to send him for the event timely. 'The championship is commencing tomorrow (January 2, 2020), while we got the visas of Saifullah Tareen in U-13 and Ashab Irfan in U-17 but these are also too late for them to participate in the mega event, which is a huge setback for our players and off course the federation, as huge amount was invested on their training, airfares, hotels booking and visa fees, but all is wasted now. I must appreciate the efforts of British High Commission, who remained very helpful throughout the process, but due to holidays, the things got late and we couldn't get Uzair's visa.'

Tahir said they have very talented players in UK, who have guts to perform well in the mega event and lift the titles in different categories. 'The basic aim of sending players along with coach three days early was to provide them with the opportunity to adjust with the conditions and train hard well before the event. We have very talented pool of players in U-15 category including national champion M Ammad and Hamza. It is every possibility that they may clash in the final. If one of them doesn't win the title in U-15 category, it will be a huge setback for them and the country,' Tahir concluded.

Talking to The Nation from Birmingham...