The Hindu : Sport / Squash : Jansher Khan lauds India's improvement

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Feb 04, 2005

Sport

Sport - Squash

Jansher Khan lauds India's improvement

CHENNAI, FEB. 3. Former World champion Jansher Khan believes that India has the potential to overtake Pakistan and become a dominant force in squash in Asia in the near future.

The Pakistani legend was impressed by the performance of the Indian players on the international stage. "The way things are progressing, India should start beating Pakistan within the next five years. The Indian players are almost as talented as our boys," he told the Karachi based newspaper The News recently.

Referring to the 2-1 margin of Pakistan's win over India in the boys' section in the team event of the Asian junior championship here, Jansher thought the close encounter was a rare happening, something he felt often happened in the cricket and hockey fields.

The eight-time World Open champion said the reason for India's radical improvement was the `ambitious squash development programme' for the juniors, backed by trained coaches. The Indian squash officials are grooming players very professionally and this is bound to be rewarded with international glory in the coming years, he opined. "In India, they have a very comprehensive training programme for their junior players. They have trained coaches and the results are already visible," he observed.

Jansher pointed out that in his playing days, he had hardly heard of an Indian on the circuit. India now has a player in the top 100 while their youngsters have won British under-19 titles. "All this is a very commendable show and a sign of Indian emergence in squash," he said.

— Our Special Correspondent

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