Webdesk: After winning the WSF World Junior Championship in Melbourne for Pakistan, Hamza Khan expressed excitement but bemoaned the lack of support in his early career and during a hard time.
Khan won the championship on Sunday, after prior champions Sohail Qaisar and Jansher Khan in 1982 and 1986.
He defeated Mohamed Zakaria to restore Egypt’s squash supremacy.
“They say squash doesn’t get enough support because there are no players,” the 17-year-old athlete told in a news program. Pakistani squashers need support.”
While others abandoned him, his father coached and supported him.
After winning, everyone is phoning me to remind me how they taught me the sport. They should have held my hand at hard times. Khan said his job was difficult, but his father supported him.
He lamented that squash is unsupported nationwide but cricket is. When asked about pressure following the significant triumph, the athlete requested “support” from the government.
We’re broke. “For instance, when we ask the federation for tickets to participate in the [Professional Squash Association] PSA tournament, they refuse,” he said, adding that the federation only supports junior players due to ticket prices.
The athlete claims he was solely accompanied by the Pakistan Squash Federation director during the competition. The federation said it couldn’t afford the coach.
“In an injury, the coach and physio should be with the player,” he said.
The young player said he appreciates Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s backing, but he needs “financial support” now.
“Rs40,000 per racket. I don’t have four to five spares if one breaks while playing. “Besides that, our diet,” he said of his squash demands.
Khan couldn’t believe he was world champion. “I called my parents first [after winning].”
