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Brighton Zhawi
SQUASH player Ahmed Hassan says competing last week at the Professional Squash Association World Championships in Washington, USA, made him a better player.
this is despite the fact that Hassan failed to reach the main draw of the competition, which ends today, after crashing out of the tournament in the qualifiers.
However, the 27-year-old says he gleaned a lot and is ready to share that with fellow Zimbabweans.
“The level was really good and from talking to other players and coaches, I sadly realised that Zimbabwe lacks the coaching skills,” said Hassan, who lost 0-3 (11-6, 11-6, 11-5) to George Parker of England.
“Hopefully I will bring back some ideas and in the future try to catch up with others in our coaching strategies.
“I am also a coach and slowly with Pat Izzet (Zimbabwe Squash president) and Blessing (Muhwati), we are changing the way we are doing things.
Sadly it might be a little late for some of the guys, but our juniors will hopefully progress a lot further.”
Hassan, who plays for Princess Squash Club, says he now appreciates the importance of mental toughness on the big stage.
“Before the game you think, ‘how am I going to play, will I be too far behind the standard of play?’ – all these small thoughts.
But once you are on court, nothing matters, it’s just you and your opponent and everything settles very quickly. Definitely, lots of lessons actually, but probably the biggest one is mindset,” he said.
Has he made new friends?
“It’s a big family on the circuit, so it’s early days, but you could say I have just become another member of the family.”
Princess had a modest season and their top player, Hassan, has promised a stronger outing next year.
“The season was average, I was grooming two kids who I put in my team and we managed fourth this year, but we will be a lot stronger next year. That’s for sure,” he said.
Online Reporter