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Hamza Khan, 17, wins the title after defeating Egypt’s Mohamed Zakaria 3-1 in an exhilarating match in Melbourne.
Islamabad, Pakistan – Pakistan is celebrating a win at World Junior Squash Championship after an extended wait of 37 years.
Hamza Khan, 17, on Sunday gained the title after defeating Egypt’s Mohamed Zakaria 3-1 in an exhilarating match in Melbourne, Australia.
The final time a Pakistani gained the championship was in 1986 when the legendary Jansher Khan lifted the trophy.
Since then, solely two Pakistanis have managed to make it to the ultimate, the final in 2008.
🎙 “Pakistani Squash is back!”
Here’s the moment 🇵🇰 Hamza Khan ended Pakistan’s 37-year wait for a WSF World Junior Squash Champion title 🏆#WSFjuniors @paksquash @squashAUS pic.twitter.com/h7K50hAVjH
— World Squash (@WorldSquash) July 23, 2023
Hamza belongs to Nawa Killi village in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which has produced a number of the legends of squash – a sport Pakistan as soon as dominated on the worldwide stage.
Regardless of belonging to a household which produced world quantity 14 Shahid Zaman Khan and former British Open winner Qamar Zaman, Hamza’s path to victory was not straightforward.
His father Niazullah Khan informed Al Jazeera he has been funding his son’s ardour for the game since he began coaching almost a decade in the past. He mentioned he purchased tools and infrequently his journey tickets to the occasions.
“Whereas his ticket for Australia was purchased by the Pakistan Squash Federation, they didn’t ship any coach or coach with him to information him throughout this gruelling event. I purchased him new racquets and footwear from my very own pocket earlier than he flew out,” he mentioned.
Niazullah, himself a former national-level squash participant, mentioned he had to surrender on his dream of representing Pakistan as a result of his household’s monetary situation.
“I used to be captivated with squash and I used to be a prime participant in my faculty in Peshawar. However my father mentioned I’ve to rethink my priorities for household, so I give up my dream,” mentioned Niazullah, who now works for the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority and is predicated in Cherat city of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Niazullah mentioned his son was 9 when he first entered a squash court docket.
“Earlier than that he would simply apply at dwelling towards partitions. However inside months, not solely did he handle to qualify for a home event, he additionally ended up beating a participant 10 months his senior,” he mentioned.
Congratulations for Hamza are pouring in.
In a tweet, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif mentioned there was a time when Pakistani squash icons, Jahangir Khan – thought-about the best participant to have ever performed the sport – and Jansher Khan, “upheld their dominance of the game”.
“Hamza and different younger gamers like him have nice function fashions to comply with and with steadfastness and self software, they’d fill of their footwear someday, inshaAllah. The longer term beacons for Pakistan,” Sharif wrote.
I congratulate Hamza Khan on successful the World Junior Squash Championship. His onerous work, dedication & sporting prowess has made Pakistan the recipient of the title after an extended hole of 37 years. There was a time when our squash icons in Jahangir Khan & Jansher Khan upheld their… pic.twitter.com/kMR59kNoD0
— Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) July 23, 2023
Lately, Pakistan’s declining fortune in squash is usually attributed to an absence of help from the federal government.
Noorena Shams, one among Pakistan’s prime squash gamers, agreed. She mentioned the most important issues confronted by the nation’s rising gamers are weak administration and administration.
“We don’t have the suitable particular person for the suitable job. No person right here is aware of easy methods to generate cash or take care of the gamers and perceive what they require,” Shams informed Al Jazeera.
Shams recalled an incident from 2018 when she met Hamza whereas he was getting ready for the Junior US Open championship. She mentioned he was visibly injured.
“I might inform he wasn’t fully match, however no one within the board had seen that. And since gamers are below a lot stress to carry out, they push themselves via,” she mentioned.
Niazullah mentioned the sports activities authorities in Pakistan should deal with the gamers’ long-term future and put money into their coaching and services.
“The squash federation despatched just one official with Hamza to Australia, and that particular person has no background in squash. However I’m simply glad that my son was in a position to put all the things behind and win. We hope to do extra for our nation, however we’d like assist,” he informed Al Jazeera.
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