Bannu boy overcomes poverty, lack of amenities to change into Okay-P’s top-ranked junior squash participant
PESHAWAR:
Fourteen-year-old Danish Sikandar, a Class 9 scholar from the backward village of Mandan in Bannu district, has emerged because the primary ranked junior squash participant in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa within the Underneath-15 class, a exceptional journey marked by monetary hardship, willpower and unwavering help from his coach.
Danish’s squash story started in December 2021 after his father, a PESCO worker, was transferred to Peshawar. With no prior publicity to the game in Bannu, the place no squash amenities exist, the household relied on encouragement from Danish’s relative and senior coach Tahir Iqbal, who urged them to convey the boy to the Peshawar Sports activities Advanced.
“I had no cash to purchase even a racket,” Danish advised The Categorical Tribune. “My coach Tahir Iqbal gave me one. For the primary six or seven months, I simply sat within the squash court docket and watched different gamers earlier than I began taking part in myself.”
His persistence paid off. Danish misplaced his first match on the Qamar Zaman Squash Advanced however steadily improved. In 2023, he gained the Okay-P Junior Championship. He adopted it up with the Underneath-13 title in Karachi and the Underneath-15 Championship in 2025.
But success has come at a steep private and monetary price. Travelling to Karachi for nationwide occasions is especially burdensome. “A bus ticket prices Rs8,000 a technique and lodging and meals are additionally costly,” he stated. Prize cash provides little reduction. Whereas winners are formally entitled to Rs100,000, the quantity is shared amongst gamers, leaving Danish with simply Rs25,000. These eradicated within the first spherical obtain a meagre Rs1,200, a sum that daunts many gifted gamers from poor households.
“To date I’ve gained two golds, three silvers and eight bronze medals,” Danish stated, including that he presently owns simply two rackets, one in all which is damaged. He spends Rs15,000 month-to-month on transport through the BRT service and lately bought a racket for Rs35,000. A superb professional-grade racket prices round Rs55,000.
Coach Tahir Iqbal, who has intently guided Danish, highlighted the boy’s self-discipline and character. “We frequently speak about expertise, however punctuality, onerous work and the willingness to just accept challenges are equally necessary. With out these, expertise is nothing,” Iqbal stated.
He famous that Danish stays exceptionally punctual regardless of extreme useful resource constraints. To assist monitor the younger participant’s progress, Iqbal obtained Fitbit smartwatches from mates in the US. “I used to be shocked in the future to find that he walked 35,000 steps throughout a health session,” the coach stated. “Now I can monitor his sleep, working, strolling and full every day routine by GPS.”
Iqbal additionally pointed to systemic challenges on the Qamar Zaman Squash Advanced. “Presently we have now 300 college students and solely three squash courts, which is just overcrowding. Ideally, you want one court docket for each 10 gamers and every participant ought to have two rackets,” he added.
Regardless of the chances, Danish’s story stands as an inspiring instance of uncooked expertise nurtured by sheer grit in a resource-scarce setting.
Iqbal lauded the provincial authorities for its sports activities pleasant insurance policies however stated that the province itself was going through financial hardship and personal organizations and sponsors are non-existent.
“Provincial authorities is attempting to determine sports activities infrastructure in all of the districts of the province which is basically encouraging,” he added.
