Pakistan’s Hamza Khan won the WSF World Junior Squash Championship on Sunday. The trophy has come back to Pakistan after 37 years.
The championship’s final match was played in Melbourne, Australia, where Hamza faced off against Egypt’s Muhammad Zakaria.
Hamza lost the opening set by 14-12 but made a strong comeback to beat Zakaria 14-12, 11-3 and 11-6 in the next sets. He ultimately won the championship by a score of 3-1.
The last Pakistani to win the championship was the legendary Jansher Khan in 1986. Pakistan’s Amir Atlas made it to the final in 2008 but was beaten.
Hamza fell down in sajda as soon as he won the match. He also thanked his parents for their endless support after the win.
He beat French player Melvil Scianimanico to qualify for the final on Saturday.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif praised the squash player and thanked him for bringing the title back to Pakistan after 37 years.
“There was a time when our squash icons in Jahangir Khan & Jansher Khan upheld their dominance of the sport & bagged one international title after another,” he tweeted.
Hamza and other young players like him have great role models to follow and with steadfastness and self-application, they would fill in their shoes one day, the premier hoped.
President Arif Alvi also joined the people in praising the young star.
“I had personally watched many finals among our giants. After a long time, a resurgent ray of hope. Well done,” he said.
Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said he was looking forward to more feats from national sportsmen after victories in cricket and squash.
“There was a time Pakistan ruled the world of squash. Now we have another star in the making!” said ex-chairman of Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) Dr Umar Saif.
