Asian Team Squash: Pakistan fails to win medal for first time in tournament history

• The rise of Egyptian and French players on the global arena had restricted Pakistan to a side good enough to scare the opponents at the Asian level.
• It seems, Pakistan has lost its peak at the Asian level as well.
• Pakistan’s only win against Japan came when Nasir Iqbal defeated Tomotaka Endo.

KARACHI: Once upon a time, Pakistan used to be the world-beater in squash. Then came the decline. Pakistan started losing its glory in squash courts in the world.

The rise of Egyptian and French players on the global arena had restricted Pakistan to a side good enough to scare the opponents at the Asian level.

It seems, Pakistan has lost its peak at the Asian level as well.

On Thursday, Pakistan squash witnessed one of its most disappointing results as the side was beaten by Japan 2-1 in the last pool match of the Asian Team Squash Championship.

The result means Pakistan will be out of the race to win a medal in the tournament for the first time since its inception.

Pakistan’s only win against Japan came when Nasir Iqbal defeated Tomotaka Endo. However, Tayyab Aslam and Ammaad Fareed lost to Ryosei Kobayashi and Ryunosuke Tsukue respectively to see Pakistan failing to reach the top four.

Pakistan had earlier lost to India as well. India, along with Japan, has managed to reach the semi-finals of the 20th Squash Championship.

This is the first time when Pakistan will return without a medal from Asian Team Squash Championship. In previous 19 editions of the tournament, Pakistan had won 15 Gold, 3 Silver and 1 Bronze medal.

But this time, Pakistan could manage to beat only weaker sides like Iraq, Philippines and Indonesia.

They will now play Iran for classification match on Friday for 5-8 position – their first ever game for a position below 4th in the history of Asian Team Squash Championship.

The result has left Pakistan Squash fraternity in disappointment.

Jahangir Khan, a former world champion and the greatest ever sportsman produced by Pakistan, expressed his disappointment on performance of Pakistan Squash.

“We taught Japanese players how to play squash and today they’ve come to a position where they’re beating us, such is the state of Pakistan Squash, it seems no one at helm of affairs bother about the sport anymore,” he said during Geo News' show "Score."