Men’s and women’s events in Islamabad in December
By ALAN THATCHER
Pakistan will host professional squash tournaments for the first time since January between December 19-23 when the Pakistan Open Mens’ Squash Championship and the Chief of the Air Staff International Women Squash Championship take place in Islamabad following last month’s decision by the Professional Squash Association (PSA) to begin sanctioning PSA World Tour events in the country again.
Staged at the Mushaf Squash Complex and PSB Roshan Khan Squash Complex, the Pakistan Open Mens’ Squash Championship will consist of a $50,000 prize money tournament, while the Chief of the Air Staff International Women Squash Championship will feature a prize fund of $25,000.
In February 2017, the PSA made the decision to withdraw the sanctioning of PSA World Tour events in Pakistan due to security concerns but, after a comprehensive security evaluation was carried out by security consultants Sports Risk, the PSA now deem it safe to sanction tournaments again, although the tournament will remain under the strict supervision of Sports Risk.
“We are delighted to confirm that professional squash tournaments will return to Pakistan,” said PSA Chief Executive Alex Gough.
“We look forward to working with both the tournament promoters and the Pakistan Squash Federation in the coming months and hope that a successful tournament will enable us to add more tournaments based in Pakistan to the calendar in the future.”
Tournament Promoter and Pakistan Squash Federation Honorary Secretary, Tahir Sultan, said: “The entire Pakistani nation is very excited about conducting the Pakistan Open Squash Championship of $50K for men and $25K CAS International Squash Championship for Women.
“Pakistan will warmly welcome all international players for the tournaments and will provide requisite security to all players. We are also looking forward to conducting more tournaments with more prize money in the year 2018.”