CASSIE
PLANS MARCH COMEBACK 28-Dec
By ALAN THATCHER
FORMER
world champion Cassie Campion is planning to be back on court by the end of
January following a successful back operation last month. Cassie had 20 per
cent of a disc vertebra removed after a mobility problem was diagnosed in
her spine.
Her husband David said: "The operation was a success but the muscles
around the spine have to recover before she is allowed to go on court to do
any twisting or turning. "She is able to do some fitness work to get
her strength back up, and realistically she is looking at a return to
tournament play in March at the earliest.
"Cassie had thought about playing in the Nationals, but that's probably
a bit too optimistic at this stage. We are hoping she will be able to play
the tournament in Parsdorf, then she is looking forward to playing in the
British Open and several events in the USA."
Cassie was clearly experiencing severe problems during the Eye Group British
Open in Birmingham during her loss to Vanessa Atkinson, and again the
following week when she lost to Tania Bailey in America. She was complaining
of numbness in her legs, which was traced to a problem in her spine.
Everyone in squash wishes her a speedy recovery. The quality of play in the
Women's World Open in Edinburgh was incredibly high, and Cassie must be
relishing the prospect of rejoining the circuit in what promises to be a
year of significant growth for the WISPA Tour.
No New
Sports for Athens Olympics - Squash now targets 2008
14-Dec
The
IOC Executive Committee meeting in Lausanne on 13th December ruled out
adding any new sports for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. They decided
that the sports that were included in this year's Sydney Olympics for the
first time, Triathlon and Taekwondo, will be retained but rejected any
additions.
Ten sports, including Squash, have been campaigning for inclusion in the
Athens Olympics for over three years but there has recently been doubt that
the Organising Committee in Athens could cope with any additions. The IOC
has also ruled that a strict maximum of 10,000 athletes will apply to the
Athens Games and this will involve a reduction on the participation in
Sydney.
Ted Wallbutton, Chief Executive of the World Squash Federation commented -
"Although we have been anticipating this result for some time it has
still come as a bitter disappointment to us. We strongly believe that Squash
should be on the Olympic Programme and have made great efforts for many
years to convince the International Olympic Committee of our case. We have
also worked very hard since 1997 with both the IOC and the Athens Organising
Committee to make a special case for Squash in 2004.
"In the final analysis the Athens Organising Committee recommended the
inclusion of only Water-Skiing and even this has been rejected by the IOC.
In the midst of our own crushing disappointment we have great sympathy for
the International Water Ski Federation who came so close, only to fall at
the last hurdle. We will be sending a message of heartfelt sympathy to
them."
One of the major factors in the rejection of any new sports is the pressure
put on athlete numbers by the sports already on the Olympic programme adding
new disciplines. Additions to the Sydney programme included Trampoline,
synchronised diving and women's events in water polo, weightlifting,
pentathlon and trap skeet shooting.
WSF President Susie Simcock, now a member of the Council of the General
Association of International Sports Federations, and Mike Corby, the WSF's
Director of Olympic Affairs, made a commitment to delegates at the WSF AGM
in Hong Kong last month to continue to press for Olympic Squash. They
outlined advanced plans for promotional activity in the five cities bidding
for the 2008 Games - Osaka, Paris, Toronto, Beijing and Istanbul.
FITZ-GERALD
FINED 11-Dec
Australia's three-times former world
champion Sarah Fitz-Gerald, President of the Women's International Squash
Players' Association, has been fined £500 by the Association for
contravening its Code of Conduct.
Last week, while competing in the WISPA World Tour's UniversalSportsClub
Classic in London, Fitz-Gerald made an overnight round trip to Birmingham to
represent her club Edgbaston Priory in the SRA National League. The world
No5 from Melbourne not only helped her team to an important 3-2 win, but
went on to beat the reigning world champion Carol Owens in the final of the
Grand Prix event in London.
In imposing the minimum fine on Fitz-Gerald for playing in another squash
event during the period of a WISPA Tour event in which she was already
competing, as well as missing a mandatory championship function, WISPA
Executive Andrew Shelley acknowledged the "huge benefits you bring to
WISPA and women's squash as a general ambassador and President of our
Association".
Fitz-Gerald has 15 days in which to lodge an appeal.
MIKE CORBY
ELECTED SRA PRESIDENT 09-Dec
Mike Corby, the former Great Britain squash and hockey international, has
been elected President of the Squash Rackets Association at the SRA's Annual
General Meeting in London today (Saturday 9 December). Corby, 60, succeeds
six-times British Open champion Jonah Barrington at the end of his maximum
six-year reign. The new SRA President, owner of the Mike Corby Group sports
and health club operation, is also Vice President of both the World Squash
Federation and English Hockey Association. Two new Vice Presidents were also
elected at the SRA AGM: Jenny Barker and former England and GB squash
international Ian Robinson.
END
OF AN ERA AS EYLES RETIRES
Rodney Eyles, one of the great showmen of squash,
has finally hung up his racket. The 1997 world champion from Brisbane has
finally found the rigours of the game too much for his 33-year-old body. He
plans to stay in squash, helping to develop a junior circuit in America.
Eyles, originally from Brisbane but now based in Bermuda, is also launching
a coaching website which will sponsor a junior circuit in the States.
He will continue as president of the PSA, the players' body that organises
the men's world professional tour circuit, and hopes to preside over a
global boom in the game's popularity. Full
story
Nicol
returns to action in Florida
06-Nov
Peter
Nicol is a man with a mission, reports Alan Thatcher. He flies out to
America today (Nov 6) determined to recapture the form that put him clear at
the top of the world rankings before his dramatic withdrawal from the
British Open last month.
Nicol jets off to the Florida Open having fully recovered from the
ligament damage that forced him to quit the British Open on the eve of the
first round in Birmingham.
He said: "At first the specialists thought it was a stress fracture,
then shin splints. But the final verdict was that the pain in my ankle was
caused by just one ligament absorbing a huge amount of stress every time my
foot hit the floor.
"The timing could not have been worse. I was so keen to get that title
back after being ill in Aberdeen last year. But, not only that, I wanted to
demonstrate to the world exactly why I was number one.
"I was feeling so good, but I started getting pain in my foot about
three days before the British. I actually had an injection which removed the
pain for a while, but when I did some training the day before Birmingham I
could feel it again. It was just like a shooting pain going up the front of
my leg. There was no way I could play. But, after three weeks of rest, the
pain has gone away just as suddenly as it came."
Nicol withdrew from the US Open as well as the British, but he is looking
forward to showing the Americans just what they missed in Boston ...
WISPA sign $10m Grand Prix deal with Fablon
31-Oct
In a ground-breaking agreement announced
today (31 October) in London, the Women's International Squash Players'
Association (WISPA) has entered into an eight-year deal with Fablon
Investments which is worth more than US$10 million to the women's game. Full
story
WSF
President elected to GAISF Council
30-Oct
World Squash Federation (WSF) President Susie Simcock has become the first
ever woman to be voted onto the Council of the General Association of
International Sports Federations (GAISF).
The biennial election took place at the GAISF Conference on 26th October
2000 in Monaco, when IOC Vice President Dr Un Yong Kim was re-elected as
President of the Federation, and Dr Tamas Ajan (Weightlifting) and Hein
Verbruggen (Cycling) were re-elected as Vice-Presidents.
The election for the five members of the GAISF Council resulted in Susie
Simcock not only becoming the only woman represented on the Council, but
also the first woman ever to have held such a position. Her colleagues
on the Council are Raymond Hahn (Handball), Paul Henderson (Sailing), Don
Porter (Softball), and Horst Schreiber (Shooting). Furthermore, the
WSF President represents the only sport which is not currently on the
Olympic programme.
Susie Simcock, from Auckland in New Zealand, was elected as WSF President in
1996 and, later this week at the Federation's AGM and Conference in Hong
Kong, will be elected unopposed for her third two-year period of office.
WSF announces one-off Men's
World Championship 29-Oct
A major new men's international squash competition will be launched next year
which will not only enhance the PSA Tour, but also ensure that the Melbourne
2001 International Squash Festival is the sport's biggest event of all-time,
the World Squash Federation (WSF) announced today (Sunday 29 October). Full
story
PSA
SECURES $1 MILLION WORLD OPEN DEAL 17-Oct
The Professional
Squash Association (PSA) is delighted to announce that the Men's World Open
rights and title for the years 2001, 2003, 2004 and 2005 have been granted
to Procam International. In a historic agreement, the PSA has secured a one
million dollar ($1M) prize money deal for the most prestigious event on the
World Tour, which represents the largest ever prize fund in the history of
the professional game.
Under the promotion of Procam International, the World Open will be hosted
in India, which will in turn provide an enormous boost to the nation's
ambitions in the game.
PSA Executive Director Gawain Briars, stated: "This award
represents a momentous occasion in the history of world squash, and the PSA
looks forward with great enthusiasm to working in partnership with Procam
International over the next five years. "We are confident that the
quality and professional reputation of Procam International is such that the
prestige of the leading title in our sport will not only be secured but
further enhanced over the next period to consolidate its reputation as the
pinnacle event of men's world professional squash.
"This belief is underpinned by a staggering commitment to a one million
dollar prize money deal which equates, on a yearly basis, to nearly double
the prize fund of the next most important event on the PSA World Tour,"
Briars added.
"I am delighted for the PSA Tour players who will now be provided with
levels of prize money their efforts deserve, and I am equally glad for our
whole sport which will undoubtedly benefit from the prestige and security
now provided by the PSA Tour's lead event."
Fitz-Gerald
eases into latest comeback 21-Sep
Having announced her fitness and confirmed her entry into the Singapore
Open (21-24 Sept) at the Kallang Squash Centre in Singapore, three
times World Squash Champion, Sarah Fitz-Gerald, cruised ito the title with
three four comfortable victories. Results
Fitz-Gerald, winner of five WISPA tournaments in 2000 and a previous winner
of this event, missed competing in the 1999 Singapore Open while recovering
from two operations to repair cartilage damage to her left knee. Seeded No 1
in 2000, she commented: "I am pleased to be able to return to Singapore
and gain the confidence I need in the lead up to the British and World Opens
in October and November."
FABLON
link with WSF in 9 year boost for Women's Worlds
13 Sep
International women's squash
received a £3 million boost today with the announcement that London-based
intellectual property rights acquisition company Fablon Investments Limited
have acquired the rights to the Women's World Open and Women's World Team
Championships in a unique nine-year agreement with the World Squash
Federation (WSF). Full
story
SRA
Launch new development initiative
08-Sep
The Squash Rackets Association (SRA) have projected a new vision for squash
in England and unveiled a wide-ranging National Development Programme which
features five key elements. Over 150 guests attended the launch at
Manchester United Football Club's Old
Trafford HQ, marking the first major initiative undertaken by the English
governing body since re-locating to Manchester at the end of last year in
preparation for the city's 2002 Commonwealth Games. Full
story
Fitz-Gerald
pulls out of more events 07-Sep
Sarah Fitz-Gerald has announced her withdrawal from her national title, the
Australian Open to be held in front of her home crowd of Melbourne, and the
Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpar. After winning five consecutive World Tour
titles in 2000, Sarah was forced to withdraw from two earlier events in the
USA before competing last month for the Al-Ahram Open played on the glass
court in front of the pyramids of Giza, Egypt. Despite winning her 1st round
match without losing a single point, Fitz-Gerald experienced discomfort
immediately after, resulting in her first competitive loss to Leilani Joyce
in the much anticipated second round clash. It is this inflammation which has resulted in her
latest set-back. "This latest set-back is very frustrating, but having
returned immediately to the UK for treatment with England soccer
physiotherapist Gary Lewin, I have been reassured that this condition is
only temporary and will quickly return to the World Tour" said Sarah.
She plans to resume competitive play at the Singapore Open (21-24 Sep) and
the British Open (9-15 Oct).
In the meantime, fans can still see Sarah on her new website www.sarahfitz-gerald.com
WSF President carries Olympic Torch
14-Jul
World Squash Federation President Susie Simcock has been
honoured in her home country by being invited to carry the Olympic flame in
New Zealand on part of its journey from Greece to Sydney. "It was a
great experience - and a historical first," said the Federation's first
woman President. "I was one of 300 New Zealand torch bearers, on
the only occasion that the flame has travelled outside Greece or a country
hosting the Olympic Games. Full Story
Schoene and Grainger to lead WISPA
tour to South America 19-Jun
Germany's
No1 Sabine Schoene will join England's world No5 Natalie Grainger on the
WISPA promotional tour to South America and Jamaica, which begins on Monday
19 June. Schoene, 26, the record 13-times German national champion from
Munich, is replacing Australia's former world No1 Sarah Fitz-Gerald who is
recovering from a knee injury. Report and
Photos
Fitz-Gerald, the three-times world champion from Melbourne who is the
President of WISPA, commented: "This trip is a very important
WISPA initiative which we all hope will open new doors for women's squash in
this growing region of the world. Sadly my knee problem means that I
will miss out, but I know that Natalie and Sabine will represent the
Association well,
while I prepare to be back in action for the second half of the year."
The WISPA expedition will feature visits to Kingston in Jamaica, El
Salvador's capital city San Salvador, and Lima in Peru - all co-ordinated in
conjunction with the national federations of the host countries. Two
full days will be spent in each country, giving the players the opportunity
of
meeting local federations, media, players and coaches, as part of the
ongoing WISPA programme of pro-actively promoting international women's
squash.
Jahangir
turns down approach to coach Barada
28-May
Former British open champion Jahangir Khan
has reportedly turned down an offer to coach world number three Ahmed
Barada of Egypt. "He sent me an e-mail asking me to help him as coach but at this time I am not
interested in coaching," Jahangir said. Barada suffered a set back to his preparations for the second half of the
season when he was stabbed by an unknown assailant. Though he has now recovered, his preparation for the
forthcoming Super Series
finals and British Open
will clearly be affected. "He is a good player but at the moment I have enough things on my plate - perhaps after some time I may consider taking on coaching," Jahangir said.
Fitz-Gerald
withdraws from US Circuit 05-May
Australia's former world No1 Sarah Fitz-Gerald has withdrawn from the
remaining events on this month's US women's squash circuit in Las Vegas and
San Francisco after pulling out of this week's Dallas Open with an
inflammation of her knee. "Luckily it's just a niggle, but I need to
rest it fully before I get going again," said the three-times world
champion from Melbourne.
Fitz-Gerald has enjoyed an impressive comeback after last year's successful
surgery on her left knee - winning five WISPA World Tour titles this year
and remaining undefeated in 26 matches.
WISPA launch 'Rising Stars'
scheme 02-May
In an effort to help young women squash players get started on the
international circuit, the Women's International Squash Players' Association
(WISPA) is launching a two-pronged scheme aimed at solving the problem. Called RISING STARS, it will offer maximum encouragement for young players
and added prestige for national junior open championships.
There will now be an introductory membership category for junior players who
are not ready for full membership. Alongside this will be the new opportunity for national federations to register their Under 19 Junior Girls
Open championships as part of the programme. These events will be able to offer full World Tour points and so become even more attractive to the players. Any player under the age of 19 can join the new WISPA Rising Stars membership
option. It will enable young players who only wish to play Junior Opens to gather points which can then be carried forward if they upgrade membership,
and so allow them to begin with a ranking. Any player who is already a full/regional WISPA member may play junior events as well as WISPA Tour
events and take ranking points offered at U19 Open events.
Starting in September, WISPA will publish three times a year the worldwide WISPA Rising Stars list (1 Jan, 1 May, 1 Sept). This will be compiled from
points achieved by all WISPA Full/Regional/Rising Stars members under 19 years of age on ranking publication date.
Barada
in hospital after stabbing
20-Mar
Egyptian squash star Ahmed Barada, ranked No3 in the world, is recovering in
hospital in Cairo after being stabbed twice in the lower back. The 22-year-old was returning to his Cairo home at around midnight on Sunday,
after spending the evening at a friend's engagement party, when he was attacked by an unknown assailant while he was getting out of his car.
His International Manager Robert Edwards reports that doctors have told Barada that he is unlikely to be able to train or play squash again for at
least a month. The immediate consequence of the incident is Barada's withdrawal from this week's
Al-Ahram PSA Masters in
Hurghada, Egypt, in which
he was the third seed. A superstar in his home country, Barada is likely to
have fared well in the new Al-Ahram Masters, after reaching the final of the
World Open in Cairo last September, then beating the world champion Peter Nicol two months later in the final of the Heliopolis Open, also in Cairo.
"What a disastrous time for this talented young man, who has already had to contend with his father's recent heart problems, and just three weeks ago had
to concede the final of the Flanders Open in Belgium as a result of a toe injury," said Edwards. "He was only telling me a few days ago how good he
was feeling about the Al-Ahram Masters in Hurghada. I just hope he pulls
through this latest setback without suffering any long-term trauma."
Gawain Briars, Executive Director of the PSA added: "Ahmed Barada is one of the most exciting young players on the
PSA Tour, and we wish him a speedy recovery." SquashPlayer
exclusive report by Alan Thatcher
Sarah
Fitz-Gerald receives Australian tribute
16-Mar
Sarah Fitz-Gerald, who in an illustrious career has accumulated over 33 World Tour Women's Squash
titles including three World Championships, will be specially honored by the Victorian Institute of Sport (VIS) this week in Melbourne Australia.
The VIS, a government funded 'excellence in sport' program, will celebrate its tenth birthday, at the new Colonial Stadium in Melbourne Australia. At the conclusion of each year, an athlete is awarded 'Athlete of the Year". Sarah received that honour in 1998 in recognition of her third world open and fourth world team championship titles.
Jahangir
Pakistan's "Sportsman of the Millennium"
15-Mar
At a glittering ceremony in Karachi,
with sporting heroes from over the world present, broadcast live on Pakistan
TV, Jahangir Khan was honoured as Pakistan's greatest-ever sportsman.
Jahangir's 10 consecutive British Open titles and a five-year unbeaten run
stretching to over 800 matches were the highlights of the WSF
vice-president's career, which was relived before Jahangir himself appeared
to be presented with his award.
SRA 8-year
sponsorship deal
13-Mar
The SRA today announced an 8 year
sponsorship agreement with Fablon Investments, major shareholders in the Eye
Group, covering all major SRA events including the British Open SRA
press release
Scots out of
Europe
29-Feb
After finishing 16th in the World Team
Championships last September with a team consisting of John White, Stuart
Cowie, Neil Frankland and David Heath, Scotland have withdrawn from the
European Team Championships in April as Peter Nicol and Martin Heath again
declined to represent their country. Full
Story
Peter at the
Palace 28-Feb
Peter Nicol at last turned up for his date with the Queen at Buckingham
Palace to receive his MBE. Nicol, 26, was awarded the gong in the 1999 New
year's Honours List after becoming the first home winner of the British Open
title for 25 years. But he could not accept his first invitation to the
Palace because of tournament commitments. He made up for it on Tuesday when
he visited the Palace with his father, Pat, and his girlfriend Sally
Leonard. Full Story
SRA Court Crash
14-Feb
The SRA's Perspex court collapsed spectacularly during the breakdown of the
National Championships at the Velodrome. "We heard this big
crash," said eye-witness Alex Smith, Marketing Manager of event
sponsors Monkouse Intersport. "People were scattering as the lighting
gantry smashed on the ground. It all happened as if in slow motion." No
one was hurt in the accident, which appeared to have been caused by the
failure of one of the winches used to raise the lighting gantry so that the
stantions supporting can be removed before it is lowered. "We still
need a transportable court," commented SRA Chief Executive Stuart
Courtney, "so we aim to replace it with the most modern court we can
find." It is not yet known whether the insurance claim will be
successful.
Rest
of World beat France in Test Series 21-Feb
Three times World Champion Sarah
Fitz-Gerald, World Junior Champion Ong Beng Hee, and World Number 4 and
English Number one Simon Parke led a 'Rest of the World' team to an emphatic
2-0 win over France in the inaugural two-day Dunlop French Squash Federation
Test Series in France. Full Story
Super Series & Grand Prix Finalists
named 09-Feb
The players who will compete in the PSA Super Series Finals and WISPA's
Grand Prix Finals have been named. Travelling to Hurghada in Egypt on 27-31
March will be Cassie Campion, Leilani Joyce, Carol Owens, Natalie Grainger,
Linda Charman, Sabine Schoene, Fiona Geaves and Suzanne Horner. In London on
5-9 June will be Peter Nicol, Jonathon Power, Ahmed Barada, Simon Parke,
Paul Johnson, Martin Heath, Anthony Hill and David Evans.
Michelle
Martin enrolled in WISPA Hall of Fame
08-Feb
Australia's three-times World Open and six-times British Open squash
champion
Michelle Martin, who retired from the sport last November, is being honoured
by the Women's International Squash Players' Association in the WISPA Hall
of
Fame. Full Story
Sarah's comeback
in full swing 04-Jan
Three
times World Squash Champion Sarah Fitz-Gerald continued her amazing comeback
winning the Greenwich
Open, Connecticut, USA (19th to 23rd January) with comprehensive and
consecutive wins over the world's number four and six respectively. The
Greenwich Open brings Fitz-Gerald's total WISPA World Tour Titles to 32,
more than any other current player. More astonishingly, after eight months
of enforced absence from the World Tour during which time she has endured
two operations to repair cartilage damage to her left knee, her Greenwich
Open success came only one week after winning the Glidden
Open.
SRA
RE-APPOINTS HOWARD HARDING
11-Jan
The Squash Rackets Association (SRA) has re-appointed
sports PR consultant Howard Harding to act on behalf of the English
governing body with immediate effect. Harding was originally retained by the
SRA from September 1993 through to the end of the 98/99 squash season, when
the Association initially decided to handle its PR activities in-house. The
new role will give particular priority to the SRA National
League, the
second half of the season of which gets underway tomorrow (Tuesday 11
January), and the British National
Championships, which will take place in
Manchester for the fourth successive year between 9-13 February.
"I am delighted to renew my association with the
SRA after this short intermission, and look forward to continuing the task
of raising the profile of one of the few sports in which England continually
achieves success on the international stage," said Harding.
Harding also has an international PR role in squash,
acting jointly for the World Squash Federation (WSF), the Professional
Squash Association (PSA) and the Women's International Squash Players'
Association as World Squash Media Director.