Pakistan squash player Hamza banned

ISLAMABAD: The Professional Squash Association (PSA) has imposed a thirteen-week ban on Hamza Khan’s participation in international events for not honouring his commitments due to his national duties and his failure to get his passport in time to figure in the PSA events.

A well-informed source has told ‘The News’ that the former champion of British Junior Open has been banned from competing in any PSA event till May 15 following his inability to compete in the last four international events after sending his entry or getting a wildcard for the purpose.

Hamza missed international events in October, December and the last one in February 2023 when he was awarded a wildcard for the $70,000 Pittsburg Open.

Every time his passport was in possession of the Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF) for senior or the Asian Junior Team event held in Chennai (India) or he was actually representing the country in Asian events.

The ban will mean that the 18-year-old player will be starting his professional career from a scratch in two-months' time.

All these years he has been forced to play the junior events which apparently hampered his progress to a considerable level.

Hamza was awarded wildcard for the Pittsburgh Open held in February in the USA due to special efforts made by his uncle Shahid Zaman.

“I have made special arrangements and succeeded in getting a wildcard for Hamza who desperately needs international senior circuit competitions to grow as a professional player. Pakistan could easily have won junior Asian without Hamza. What he requires is international exposure in the professional circuit. I have used my connections to get wildcard for him for such a big event. But unfortunately, he has not been allowed to compete in the Grade I event,” former World No 14 Shahid Zaman has recently told ‘The News’.

He added that till the time these players continue playing juniors, they will not improve at the senior level.

“Now the players like Hamza and Noor Zaman must concentrate on the senior circuit,” he added.

“Even the locals in the USA find it hard to get wildcard but I have managed that for Hamza as he desperately needs exposure at international level to grow as a professional player,” he said.

The Egyptians, who are ruling the world of squash these days, hardly repeat the same players in international junior events. Once they achieve a target or fail to achieve it, they replace it with the next player.

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