Pakistan beats Bangladesh, 3-0

Farhan Mehboob - PAK bt Masud Rana - BAN  [11-1,11-7,11-8]  (15)

Farhan Zaman - PAK bt Shohidul Islam - BAN  [11-5,11-6,11-4]  (19)

Monsoor Zaman - PAK bt Raju Ram - BAN  [11-4,11-4,11-4]  (12)

When you don't do the basics well, you're not going to go far in squash.  This was the case today as Pakistan ripped into Bangladesh with great ease.  The toxic mixture of intimidation and anxiety left Team Bangladesh flat footed and overwhelmed with virtually every shot.

As coach, I serve the player best between games by giving him/her a snapshot of how they played the preceding game.  The first step includes a brief comment  on the 4 basics which are, 1) errors (forced and unforced), 2) length, 3) width and 4) tight/loose.  If these 4 elements are done well by both players, then the pressure created will have unearthed the opponents strategy, sometimes as early as the first game.  So the next step would be discussing that strategy and countering it.  Today, again, we never made it past the basics.  

The key to playing the best of players is to play effective basic squash.  The Bangladesh contingent is more than capable of doing this and will pick themselves up after a couple of tough outings against India and Pakistan.  Up next, we have the talented Sri Lanka squash led by PSA pro Navin Samarasinghe which we have never beaten, but I assure you, our Bangladesh squad is prepared for a first time victory.

Lets go Bangladesh!

posted by Will