Kashif Shuja, ( ur, کاشف شجاع; born 20 July 1979 in

Abbottabad Abbottabad (; Urdu, Punjabi language(HINDKO dialect) آباد, translit=aibṭabād, ) is the capital city of Abbottabad District in the Hazara region of eastern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It is the 40th largest city in Pakistan and fourth ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

) is a former professional

squash Squash may refer to: Sports * Squash (sport), the high-speed racquet sport also known as squash racquets * Squash (professional wrestling), an extremely one-sided match in professional wrestling * Squash tennis, a game similar to squash but pla ...

player who represented

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

.SquashInfo Player Profile
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Biography

Kashif Shuja is a Pakistan-born Kiwi from Taupo, New Zealand. Kashif was national junior champion of

and represented his country of birth in the Asian and World Junior Championships winning gold and bronze medals. He also represented Pakistan at the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

in 1998. He was ranked 5 in the national men's ranking list which was then led by the legendary

Jansher Khan Jansher Khan PP SI HI ( ur, جان شیر خان; born 15 June 1969, in Peshawar, Pakistan) is a former World No. 1 professional Pakistani squash player. During his career, he won the World Open a record eight times, and the British Open s ...

. Kashif graduated in Information Technology from Singapore and shifted residence to New Zealand in 2001 where he worked for the

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

for 3 years. He turned pro at the end of 2005 when he led New Zealand in the World Men's Team Championships in

Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital T ...

. Kashif won 5 National Championships maintaining his top ranking in New Zealand for 5 consecutive years from 2004 to 2009. Kashif is a winner of 11

PSA PSA, PsA, Psa, or psa may refer to: Biology and medicine * Posterior spinal artery * Primary systemic amyloidosis, a disease caused by the accumulation of abnormal proteins * Prostate-specific antigen, an enzyme used as a blood tracer for pros ...

World Tour titles - including the Spanish Open in 2009, the South Australian and Swiss Opens in 2011 and the PSA Manawatu Classic in New Zealand in 2014. His best PSA World series results were top 16 in the British and World Opens and a top 10 placing for New Zealand at the World Men's Teams Championships in Denmark 2009. In 2015 Kashif won the New Zealand Masters Open in Napier as well as the National Champion of Champions title at home in Palmerston North. Kashif added a World Masters Games gold medal in the over 35s age category to his lit of titles in Auckland in April 2017. The same year, he was appointed coach of the New Zealand men for the World Team Championships in France. The team finished 6th - NZ's highest placing in over 25 years. He won his 11th national title - O40 masters in Whangarei 2020 to become one of the most decorated squash player in New Zealand. After hip surgery in November 2020, Kashif has made a successful return to tournaments, taking out the Hawkes Bay Easter Open as well as the Havelock North Open. He continues to play and coach squash in Taupo and travels frequently to tournaments around the country.

References

A History of Squash in New Zealand by Joseph Romanos

External links

* * New Zealand male squash players Living people 1979 births Sportspeople from Abbottabad Pakistani male squash players Sportspeople from Auckland Pakistani emigrants to New Zealand {{NewZealand-squash-bio-stub