Pakistani squash coach, Shahid Aziz, after staying in the country for the past ten months and fine tuning the games of both our senior and junior national players, returned home last week.
Mr. Aziz came to the country during the South Asian Federation (SAF) games, held last November, and was asked by the Pakistan Squash Association to remain on the island and nurture the development of its players.
Pakistani Coach Shahid Aziz. Pic by Gemunu Wellage |
Sri Lanka Squash Federation President, Oliver Guruge, says that during the SAF games he made an appeal to the Sports Ministry who then went on to request the Pakistan Squash Association for Mr. Aziz’s services.
“We knew he was a very good coach with an extensive knowledge of the game and we were fortunate to get him to work with us. Aside from his coaching techniques he is a very good feeder of the ball,” Guruge revealed.
An effective ‘feeder’ is someone who can hit the ball off the court’s wall so it ricochets back at a player to roughly the same spot each time. This helps the player perfect a particular shot through repetitive practice of the stroke.
Aziz, who played the sport in Pakistan from 1984 to 1992, says his involvement and love for the game has spanned 18 years, a period during which he was no doubt exposed to plenty of talent. “These Sri Lankan players have really impressed me with their game, they are very talented and with a bit more work they could compete at a top Asian level,” Aziz explains.
The Pakistani coach had a chance to work with some of the top junior players in the country, among them top prospects Binura Jayasuriya and Gihan Suwaris, who stretched two top Pakistani players at the recent Asia Junior Squash Championships. Binura was full of compliments for the coach’s work.
“He was a very good coach who worked hard with us on our fitness especially and also helped improve the accuracy of our shots. Apart from giving all of us valuable advice he would also take us aside and coach us individually,” Binura says.
The keen Shahid Aziz expresses that it was easy to work with the young players given their immense talent, and that if they weren’t distracted by the fact they had to focus on their studies they could probably be some of Asia’s top prospects.
He also states that there are other impediments to their progress such as the lack of any extended practice sessions, due to the fact that most of the squash courts in the country are only available for limited periods of time, as they are not owned by the Squash Association. He also says that Sri Lanka needs to think about bringing in foreign sparring partners who are greatly skilled, to help test local players and in the process help them raise their standards.
However he adds, “The country is doing a lot of good things for the sport here. I saw the new complex in Ratmalana and it matches anything I have seen in Pakistan.”
Mr. Aziz says he hopes to return to Sri Lanka soon and continue his work with the players saying, “I see them becoming top Asian players and want to keep on assisting them in reaching this goal.” |
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