Save squash from politics, says Jansher

ISLAMABAD—Again lending his voluntarily services for the revival of Squash, Former World Champion Jansher Khan has appealed to President General Pervez Musharraf to save squash and its talent in the country by taking effective measures.
Pakistan will fail to win any major event in upcoming 40 years if immediate measures including to hire services squash legends will not be taken, he said in an interview to Online on Monday.
Ten times World Open and six times British Open champion Jansher said he still has a lot of squash left in him and the fact is that Pakistan have failed to do well on the international circuit forcing him to get back on squash court. Jansher, who is now 38 and a father of five, added that, for the revival of squash we needs to introduce academic system and hire services of squash legend.
He made it clear if early steps will not be taken then Pakistan will fail to get any major title in next 40 years. He said, he is serious in his bid to make a successful return on the international circuit and asked tournament organizers all over the world to help him in his latest comeback by awarding him wild card entries. “I am back in training and will try to win some matches,” said Jansher, who will be playing in a minor world ranking event to be held at London in October. “I was the world’s number one player for ten years,” he said. “I can still give a lot to the game and hope that organizers throughout the world will give me wild cards for their tournaments.”
Jansher said that before competing this event he will start the training session from the second week of this month at Peshawar and after that in the first week of October I will depart to England to participate in the championship. “I still have the same sort of control over my shots as I had during my prime and the experience is there too”, he added. Jansher believes in the saying that ‘class is permanent’ and he is confident that he can do well even against younger and high-ranked rivals. “I’m looking forward to a successful return on the international circuit but much will depend on how the tournament in London goes for me and I will decide my future on the performance of this event.” Answering a question, he said that he resigned from squash Adviser because the federation failed to grant him respect. “I work with respect and federation did not utilize me properly. Criticizing the performance of Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF), Jansher Khan blamed Politics in federation behind the destruction of squash and its talent in the country adding that Squash President are still not being apprised about the facts. He said that the Pakistan Squash Federation was a weak body and could not handle crises properly. “This is unfortunate that our federation failed to utilise the talent of Jahangir Khan and Jansher Khan and misbehaved with them,” he said.
Jansher, who last won the British Open in 1997 after beating England’s Peter Nicol in the final, said the PSF had no respect for the squash legends. Added that federation should implement on the suggestion of squash legends for the better results for squash.—Agencies