The 40th Annual General Council meeting of Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF) was held at Air Headquarters, Islamabad Tuesday. Air Chief Marshal Tahir Rafique Butt Chief of the Air Staff who is also the PSF president presided over the meeting.The meeting discussed the performance of the federation. In recognition of the valuable contribution made towards promoting the game of squash during the year 2012, the Punjab Squash Association (PSA) was declared winner of the Pride of Performance Trophy, which was handed over to PSA president Malik Amjed Ali Noon by the PSF president.

The meeting carried out thorough assessment of the squash players representing the country in national and international tournaments. The federation expected professional players to excel further in the game, as they were being provided with all possible support and facilities throughout the years.
It was highlighted during the meeting that PSF has attached high priority to the promotion of squash at grassroots levels and it had emphasized on infrastructure development and streamlining the role of provincial academies.

The house was also appraised about the challenges faced by the PSF and its plans for the betterment of the sport. The major projects of the PSF including efforts for revival of international squash, PSF educational program, training of players in USA and holding international tournaments at neutral venues were also discussed in detail.Air Chief Marshal Tahir urged the participants to do more for the promotion of squash while the players needed to put in more efforts to improve their game. The meeting concluded with the hope to revive Pakistan's ascendancy in the international arena of squash.

It is pertinent to mention here that some associations had planned to table moves especially against the federation's secretary Abdul Wahab Marwat and they also wanted the federation not to extend the contract of the current head coach Jamshed Gul. A source said the associations also discussed appointment of secretary, treasurer and SVP of the federation through democratic way rather than the usual way of appointments being made by the PAF.But all such moves failed to take off, as the PSF president sought explanation why such step should be taken against these persons, the performance of both secretary and especially coach remained matchless throughout the previous year.

Gul in his one-year contract has helped Pakistan players a lot and despite getting much less pay than he was getting from Malaysia, he is still producing wonderful results. Inside sources have confirmed to this scribe that Gul had some serious offers from other countries who were willing to pay much more than the PSF, but Gul wanted to work for the country and was ready to sign contract extension.