Pakistan guaranteed US Junior Open Squash title as Noor, Hamza reach final

Noor Zaman Khan, carrying forward the legacy of grandfather, former world squash champion, Qamar Zaman Khan, has reached the final of the highly prestigious US Junior Open Squash Championship-2021 Under-19 category, as he brushed aside former Pakistan top junior player Haris Qasim 3-1 in the semi-finals played in Philadelphia Tuesday.

While another Pakistani Hamza Khan, who won the British Junior U-17 title in 2017, will clash in the final against Noor Zaman as Hamza thrashed local lad Tad Carney 3-0 in the other semi-final and ensured that the title will land in Pakistan.

A product of Pakistan National Squash Academy both Noor and Hamza had shown great talent and there is still some light at the end of the tunnel, as all the Pakistani senior players, with the exception of Nasir Iqbal, failed to deliver goods for the country. Despite being heavily backed by Pakistan Squash Federation, none of the seniors manages to bring glory like in past days.

While talking exclusively to this correspondent Qamar Zaman Khan said: “Noor is purely trained and coached by me and his father Munawwar Zaman, while his uncle and former world number 11 Mansoor Zaman also helped Noor a great deal. I had told the PSF that Noor and Hamza can fulfil the void and can bring titles for Pakistan if the federation backs them. I am thankful to PSF President and SVP for their keen interest in youngsters and they have promised me to look after the bright kids and provide every possible help and send them abroad for international events as without playing abroad, they can’t improve their rankings.”

Qamar further said: “Noor is an exceptional talent like his uncle Mansoor. He is very hard working and always keen to spend hours and hours in training. We have to look beyond certain individuals. The federation is doing whatever they can but players are not responding the way they should. I don’t expect players to train like us for 5 to 8 hours daily but at least they should train for 4 hours daily, or else they can’t win big. The minor successes won’t help their cause. I can assure these players that if they play more seriously, they can earn in millions and if they play non-seriously, they are bound to doom.” he concluded.

While sharing his views, Pakistan National Squash Academy Director Air Commodore (retd) Aftab Sadiq Qureshi said: “I am delighted that our hard work is paying off. These youngsters had shown tremendous talent and it is time they start to produce desired results. Both Hamza and Noor had tasted success and these are highly wonderful signs for Pakistan squash that the US Junior Open U-19 title will be coming to Pakistan. I wish if senior players listen to our advice, spend more time in training, I can guarantee, they can win big. But they are not serious. We gave them 73 days training schedule but they can’t even turn up for 17 days. If they can’t train, if they can’t pay heed to federation’s requests and do not follow training policy, how on earth we can produce desired results,” he concluded.

While sharing his views from Philadelphia, former Pakistan national team head coach, Jamshed Gul Khan, who is there with his students said: “Honestly speaking Noor displayed world-class squash, he had a very tough draw, but he showed tremendous skills. I was sitting on his bench and closely watching and giving him a few tips as well but he showed he had the world champion material as his great grandfather Qamar Zaman is there to give him what others can’t. I really enjoyed his style of squash. He has a desire and hunger and tremendous stamina, which is presently missing in Pakistani players. These are good signs that after very poor performances in recent events from senior Pakistani players, these juniors are showing signs of champion material.”

In the first semi-final, Noor was up against Haris, who was playing in Pakistan and was tipped to replace senior players but he moved to the USA for higher studies and represented his university. The first game was played on a very high tempo as both players fought for each and every point before Noor took the game 11-9. The second game was a repeat of the first game as Haris showed his experience and class to take the game 12-10. But Noor was in no mood to let the match slip out of his hands as he bounced back in style to take the third game 11-5 and after some anxious and nervy moments in the 4th game, Noor hold onto his nerves and won the game 12-10 thus setting an all-Pakistan clash against compatriot Hamza Khan, who defeated local boy Tad 3-0.

Hamza took the first game 11-7, won the second game 11-4 and simply routed Tad and took the third game 11-2. The final will be played today.