Liz Irving, a former world
no.2, one of the sport’s top coaches and coach to World Champion Nicol David
is critical of the WISPA move to PAR 11
"Why does
the club player get addicted to this wonderful game of squash? I have had a
racket in my hand for 41 years – from the age of two – and I still love the
game! I love what it stands for and what it gives you as a person. You learn
so much about yourself as you struggle away: how to control your emotions,
solve problems and deal with pressure. You are forever learning how to
better yourself.
The women’s
game over the last 20 years has been all about building credibility. The men
in ‘my’ day did not want a women’s event attached to their events. We were
the poor relations and were put under a lot of pressure to follow the men’s
way of scoring (PAR to 15) – or we wouldn’t even have events in certain
countries.
Later we
decided as a group that this didn’t enhance our game or give us TV exposure
or generate more top women's events. We felt that the time had come to stand
alone and not be put on the back courts at men’s events. On top of that we
believed that traditional scoring was the best way to ensure the quality of
matches.
Today, I
think the women’s game is great the way it is. The length of matches is
right and the women are supporting their own events well. With traditional
scoring it is always possible for there to be a great comeback. How
satisfying it is to come back from 8/0 down and win a game ... especially
the fifth! And on the other hand, how soul destroying it is to lose those
matches. This is what makes great squash.
In all
sports you have the defender and the attacker. Traditional scoring allows
this to hold true for squash. You see a game develop strategically. You also
see players rewarded with a point for good strategy.
Men are and
always will be at a completely different physical level from women and
shortening the women's matches will, I feel, detract from their credibility
as athletes and generally. It will make the sport look easy – and who wants
to travel to watch a ten-minute match, whether it be a first round or a
final?
I also feel
that PAR to 11 scoring will lower the quality of the game, as it will be
hard sometimes to see any substance in a match. I have seen many of the top
players throw games or matches when there is no chance of recovering a
deficit – which certainly does not go down well with the paying public.
I find it
hard to believe that people cannot understand the simple concept of winning
a point when you are the server. Squash is an intelligent sport and there is
nothing better than playing in front of an understanding, articulate crowd.
The aim of a
unified scoring system seems to be to get squash into the Olympics in
perhaps eight years’ time, which I would love to see. But if the move to pro
scoring does not achieve Olympic status for squash, enhance the women's
tour, improve credibility, increase worldwide exposure or guarantee
top-level events, then I hope we can revert to traditional scoring before
all that we worked for is lost!"
Liz Irving
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