Maqbool aims to get career back on track
UAE’s top squash professional Adil Maqbool aims to focus on his ambition of breaking into the top 50 as he embarks on a series of qualification tournaments in the United Kingdom after a five-month hiatus from the sport.
The Abu Dhabi-born squash prodigy, whose ranking in the Professional Squash Association dropped from a high of 66 to 106, is determined to get his career back on track by moving to England.
“I have finished my three years of my Bachelors here in Ajman from the Preston University. They offered me a chance to transfer all my credits to University of Bedfordshire in Luton and I accepted to finish my last year (Bachelors in Computer Science) there
as it would allow me train and study at the same time,” said Maqbool in an exclusive interview with Emirates 24/7.
“This move will finally allow me to train the whole year round in contrast to when I was based here in Dubai where I had to come back every couple of months for studies. There was no one here to train with or give me a good game which affected my performance a lot,” he said.
With several top 20 players including Darrel Selvey, Peter Barker, Adrian Grant, Jonathan Kemp and Joe Lee based in England, Maqbool is hopeful of getting to play with them once a week. “There are lot of professionals ranked higher than me with whom I could get hits,” he said.
“Usually I only worked on my technique and fitness separately with my father but did not have any game practice which really is a big disadvantage at a professional level. I still managed to get to 66 in the world playing part time so once I have a good environment to train in with a lot of quality players I think I can do much better,” he said.
Maqbool is targeting the World Open to be held in Saudi Arabia the qualifying tournament for which will be held in London on September 8, followed by qualification for the Kuwait Open on September 9 and 10 and the British Open qualification on September 12.
But his main focus is the Coronation London Open in the second week of October. “It is a $15,000 tournament and the top players won’t be featuring in it. It is a huge opportunity for me to go up in the rankings,” said Maqbool, 22, who just won his seventh Abu Dhabi Open title last month.
He began training just last week after concentrating on his studies and will begin serious preparations with his coach and father Maqbool Khawaja after returning before Ramadan from a trip to his native Pakistan. “I will start a three-week intense training camp with my father at the Murooj Rotana in Dubai where he runs an academy, which will include two to three sessions a day on and off court,” he said.
“We usually train late at night during Ramadan. I was in England last year during the fasting month. I will have a light workout before breaking fast and begin training at midnight. It’s a little weird but it’s helps to harden up because Ramadan it will be much easier,” said Maqbool.
He also aims to compete in the British County league plus the German, French and Dutch Leagues next season in his bid to rise up in the rankings. Maqbool undertook a tour of North America from September to March during which he took part in 12 tournaments finishing among the top nine in a majority of them which helped him stay in the 80s. But the cancellation of a couple of tournaments especially in Brazil upset his plans.
“I have been able to do weight training and more work off court. I feel I’m in much better shape and can put more pressure on my body. I will be certainly playing more squash when I’m in Luton than in Dubai,” he said.