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15-Oct, Australia:
Jenson and Desira
take Victorian titles
Andrew Dent reports
South Australia’s Dan Jenson and Dianne Desire of
Melbourne justified their top seedings when they took out the men’s
and women’s finals of the Victorian Open squash tournament in
Wangaratta on Sunday.
 Jenson
beat Cameron White of Victoria 11-8, 11-9, 11-10 (3-1) while Desira,
just back from playing in North America, was too strong for
promising junior Kimberley Bessel 9-5, 9-6, 9-4.
It was Jenson’s third state open championship of the year, adding to
his earlier South Australian and Queensland titles.
He also took out the Naracoorte Open in South Australia during the
local tour.
But he was forced to fight hard for the title by White, the
defending champion and winner on four previous occasions.
Jenson was very controlled throughout the match and was able to hold
White’s acrobatic style at bay.
It was this control that proved the difference, with the former
world number five able to cause errors at vital times in all three
games.
 The
women’s final brought together two Victorian Institute of Sport
scholarship holders and as with the men, Desira’s big match
experience proved too much for Bessel to handle.
Bessel was recently crowned Australian under 17 champion, the fourth
age group title of her career, and although she played well, she
couldn’t find a way through Desira’s defences.
But Desira was full of praise for her younger opponent, saying she
had a big future in front of her.
“She’s got some great shots and if she knuckles down I think she can
be a big threat on the tour,” Desira said.
Desira will now take the next few months off the world tour to
prepare for tournaments in the New Year.
“I’m going to stay in Melbourne over summer and get stuck into
training,” she said. “I want to do some really hard work and get
really fit for next year.”
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15-Oct, India:
Coach who shapes willing wards
From the Deccan Chronicle
The quiet and unassuming Dronacharya awardee goes through his paces
systematically. Squash aspirants have reaped rich rewards from his
professional ways. Cyrus Poncha can proudly claim to have played
a key role in shaping many a player’s future yet he claims no credit for
any of it.
“It gets a lot easier when you have willing minds to work with. The kids
here at the ICL academy are great learners they are pulling with all
their might and the results will follow soon. It should be a
concentrated effort from both coach and student and only that could
bring about the desired results,” notes Cyrus.
One can spot a twinkle in Cyrus’ eyes when you ask him to name the
future prospects among his wards.
“Everyone is putting their best foot forward and if past results are any
indication then Anaka, Anwesha Reddy, Harinder Pal Singh and Ravi Dixit
are on their way up but there are others who cannot be discounted,”
explains Cyrus.
The national coach adds the system of training has got more scientific
in the recent past and his wards spend four hours everyday on the court
apart from on court and off court training. The swimming pool and gym
that is available in the academy help complete their training, in
addition to which the trainees also attend yoga and mediation classes.
With the infrastructure in place and talent aplenty, Cyrus feels it
would be sooner rather than later before Indians etch their name firmly
on the world squash map.
Coming up: Spotlight on India's Asian team, and Squash
Capital provides role model ... |
Shabana:
Making a Racket
An
illuminating interview with the world number one after his
'devastating' defeat in the World Open in Cairo ... |
Hilarity in Hungary
Pakistan, 02-Oct:
Maria breaks the mould
Defying a conservative society
and some pretty strict norms, Maria Toorpakai Wazir has
become Pakistan's first Pathan woman squash player.
To call her a spunky teenager would be selling her short.
Maria has always defied the norm.
The 16-year-old has beaten all the odds women in her country
usually bow down to.
At the age of 11, she was an accomplished weightlifter. But
she couldn't compete because there are no weightlifting events
for women in Pakistan.
That's when she moved to the squash court. Here too, she has
only the boys to practice with.
"Parents should try to be broad minded. They shouldn't think
that girls can't do anything. It's the 21st century," said
Maria.
Full story from NDTV
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Pakistan, 04-Oct:
PSF crisis as players decline to join Jansher camp
A SquashSite exclusive by Rahmatullah Khan
 PESHAWAR,
Oct.04- Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF) Tuesday plunged into severe
crises as players declined to join camps under the supervision of
former World Champion and legendary Jansher Khan, who has been
tasked for training both seniors and young talent for revival of the
lost glory of the country in the particular sport.
The Squash legendary, who had ruled courts by winning World
Championship 8 times and British Open 6 times had, a few days ago,
been tasked by the federation to train both young and present senior
players in the country.
Mr. Khan would also be assisted by two
assistant trainers in the achievement of the task, however, players
and their families have declined to send their children to a camp
managed by Jansher Khan.
The camp would commence from Monday (October 9) at Peshawar,
followed by similar kinds of training camps in Islamabad, Lahore and
Karachi.
The players who have been directed to report to the camp include
Amjad Khan, Farhan Mahboob Khan, Aamir Atlas Khan, Shahid Zaman,
Mansoor Zaman and Maria Turpakai, a tribal female who achieved fame
in playing Squash in the country (see side panel).
"No one could dare to force my son to join the camp supervised by
Jansher Khan, uttered no one less than his brother Atlas Khan,
father of Aamir Atlas, a grooming young national player. I would
never allow my son to play in the camp run by Jansher Khan," he
added.
Mansoor Zaman, son of another former legend Qamar Zaman said he
would never think of joining a camp managed by Jansher Khan, saying
that being son of a former world champion and known as technical
player can train me better than Mr. Khan.
When Qamar Zaman was
contacted he said that the handing over of such big responsibility
on Jansher further damaged the already declining national glory in
the game. However, Mahboob Khan, father of Farhan Mahboob, was ready
to send his son to the camp.
Talking to newsmen, here at Pakistan Sports Board Peshawar, Jansher
Khan disclosed that he himself would impart both squash training and
ground training for three days while the remaining three days
training would be given by his assistants. The trainers would play
with the players for four to five hours. "It would include both
training on squash court and ground and they would be given
opportunity to play in six major events in a year," he added.
Jansher Khan said that the prize money of the tournament would be
increased from US$ 30,000/- to US$.50,000/- which would be borne by
Pakistan Squash Federation.
The Federation has to arrange four mega
events every year in the country. He said that the players would be
enabled to improve their world ranking to bring them to the top of
the list as soon as possible. The women players he said would be
playing in Pakistan and Asian level. They would also be provided all
possible facilities and if required Carla Khan would also be invited
here.
In response to a question, Jansher Khan said that in case of refusal
by any player to join the camp, he would be deprived of facilities
including air tickets and foreign tours to any country. He vowed
that in case of failure in achievement of the tasked assigned to
them for bringing improvement in ranking of the players, he would
quit his job. "Any player in the existing players, who joins the top
ranking would be given special incentives," pledged Mr. Khan.
The players he said would find no problem, but no lack of interest
would be tolerated by them.
"Any one expressing lukewarm interest in
the training or not following discipline would not only be expelled
from the training camp, but would also have to face a ban imposed on
behalf of the federation on him," he warned. He said, he wished to
deliver top ranking players to Pakistan Squash Federation and
fulfilled the commitment made with it.
It would make efforts to revive the golden era of Pakistan Squash
and prepared to convert these players into top ranking players
within a period of six months.
He said that President of Pakistan
Squash Federation, Air Chief Marshal Tanvir Ahmad, Senior Vice
President Air Vice Marshal Inamullah Khan have assured that these
players would be extended all facilities, saying he was thankful for
this assurance and would try my best to come up to their
expectations.
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Does Donald Rumsfeld
Cheat at Squash?
 We
recently compiled a list of
famous people who play squash (as opposed to famous squash
players, something quite different), in which US Defense Secretary
Donald Rumsfeld appeared.
Well, squash attention has been focussed on the 74-year-old
politician, after an article appeared in the New York Times
detailing his squash habits, which include popping down to the court
in the Pentagon basement to take on a variety of opponents.
 It's
the hardball variety of squash that Rumsfeld plays, which certainly
goes with his political image, but a few of his opponents have since
spoken out about his on-court tactics ... specifically, it seems he
is inclined to get in the way, and disinclined to give his opponent
any redress in the way of a stroke or a let ...
 There
have been a few follow-up articles by his accusers in the American
press, but as far as we're concerned the definitive answer came when
the recently-retired Peter Nicol was interviewed about the
issue on BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
Does Peter Nicol think Donald Rumsfeld cheats ???
Listen to the interview ...
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India take Three to Doha ...
Joe Williams, DNA India
 MUMBAI:
The Squash Racket Federation of India announced a
three-member squash team for the Doha Asian Games leaving
out the country’s second-ranked player Dipika Pallikal, the
teenager from Chennai.
Talking to DNA, Cyrus Poncha, official of the SRFI, said
top-ranked woman player Joshana Chinappa along with her male
teammates Ritwik Bhattacharya and Saurav Ghoshal will be
heading for Doha.
“These are the medal prospects and we do not find any other
player good enough for the Asian Championship,” said Poncha.
The team is likely to undergo a camp in England. “The SRFI
has proposed England as a place for the foreign camp to the
government and if that comes through, the team will train
there before the Asian Games,” added Poncha.
 “I am
grateful to the SRFI as they have permitted me to train with
my Egyptian coach Mohammad Morsi and I will be in Egypt for
the next four months before the Games,” said Joshna. |
Masters head for South Africa
 The
8th World Masters Championships to be played in
Cape Town, South Africa from 16-21 October sees the
biggest individual squash championships in Africa with 672
players from 31 countries participating in the 16 age -
group sections.
The age –group sections are : women: 35-39;
40-44;45-49;50-54;55-59;60-64 and for the first time since
1995 65 +: Men:
35-39;40-44;45-49;50-54;55-59;60-64;65-69;70-74 and also
for the first time since 1995, 75+.
The biggest contingent of players are understandably from
South Africa followed by the UK, Australia and Finland who
were the hosts in 2003 for the bi-ennual championships.
The event was not held in 2005 as the World Masters Games
which included squash, took place in Canada.
Draws now available
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Nick's Dodgy Treble ...
Nick Matthew is the first man ever to hold the British National
and the British Open titles at the same time (so he told us
after the final in Nottingham, anyway).
Victories like that make him a sought-after commodity, with National
and local papers keen to do features on the Sheffield star.
So when Sheffield Today went to interview him, naturally they wanted
a photo of Nick with the famous British Open trophy.
Trouble was, Nick only got to hold that for a few minutes after the
final before England Squash whisked it back to HQ for safekeeping.
But Nick had a cunning plan ... safely stored at his home club of
Hallamshire was another impressive-looking trophy, for the
English Open.
 "Who's
gonna know?" said Nick. "An Englishman has not had his hands on the
real thing for 67 years!"
Well sorry Nick, the secret's out ... and you never know, a certain
Frenchman who did rather well in Sheffield in August may well be
demanding some royalties ...
Full interview from Sheffield Today
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Jansher vows to bring back Glory
News International
 Former
world champion Jansher Khan has vowed to bring back the
squash glory to Pakistan but this time not as a player but as a
coach.
Jansher, who met with the Air Chief Marshal Tanveer Mahmood Ahmed,
the President of the Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF) here, wanted a
two-year contract to transform the Pakistani players into
world-class performers.
In an exclusive chat with the PPI here on Thursday, Jansher, who won
99 major international squash titles in his professional squash
career, said that he would start training players in the mid of
Ramazan. “I would pick four boys and four girls who will train under
my guidance at Peshawar,” he stated.
He added that he would also visit all the provinces and hold the
trails in provincial metropolis to get the best talent from grass
root level. “The selected players will be given a chance to get
training at the national camp.”
To a question, Jansher said he was not clear about any contract with
the PSF. “The Air Chief did not offer me any contract but he told me
to start training the players and that the PSF would provide all the
available facilities,” he said.
Jansher expressed that he would start coaching soon, but for the
long-term coaching process the federation has to offer him a
long-term contract.
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