Pakistan Withdraws from US Junior Squash Over Age Verification Dispute

Around 977 players representing forty-five nations are competing in the 2025 U.S. Junior Open-the world's largest individual squash tournament, but Pakistan withdrew its players after the US Open organisers did not accept their age verification, Telecom Asia Sport (www.telecomasia.net) has quoted sources as telling it.

"To protect the integrity of the competition while allowing participation, the US Squash implemented a newly adopted policy. Where reasonable concern existed, affected players were permitted to compete only in the age group in which they are ranked domestically and/or most recently competed at their National Championships," organisers told Telecomasia.net.

"No player was banned or disqualified, and all affected athletes remained eligible to compete. Age-category adjustments were applied solely to maintain fairness for all participants and do not change World Squash Federation (WSF) regulations."

Pakistan Squash Federation secretary Amir Nawaz told www.telecomasia.net that anything that goes against the country's process was not acceptable.

"It is not that our players were overaged and withdrawn," Nawaz was quoted as saying by Telecom Asia Sport. "They raised objections to one of our players, but they did not accept our documentation and the process, which was properly endorsed.

"But they challenged our system, which is against our integrity, and in our executive committee, we decided that we will not participate in the event. They did not disallow our players but promoted them in age groups, which was not acceptable," said Nawaz.

Organisers said fairness was paramount. "US Squash is fully committed to fairness, transparency, and athlete welfare in local, national, and international competitions. In the lead-up to the 2025 U.S. Junior Open, concerns were raised regarding the age eligibility of a small group of international junior players. These concerns were based on documentation, domestic competition histories, and global ranking patterns that suggested potential discrepancies in reported ages.

"The review identified system-level challenges that made it impossible to determine chronological age with certainty in some cases. These included delays in birth registration, the possibility of conflicting or duplicate documents, and domestic competition patterns that were inconsistent with reported ages. Importantly, this review did not reflect on the character, integrity, or intentions of any individual athlete, family, or federation," the report quoted a spokesperson of the organisers as saying.

PSF said it will raise the matter with the World Squash Federation in due course.

Pakistan had been a power at the international squash scene with Jahangir Khan and Jansher Khan ruling the scene in the last three decades of the previous century, but has not won any senior event since the two Khans retired.

But the country is making a comeback in the global arena with Hamza Khan winning the Junior World title in 2023 -- Pakistan's first junior world title since 1986. Noor Zaman also won the Under-23 title earlier this year.

But the overage slur is a setback for the country where birth records are not properly maintained in the rural areas.

- IANS