News Archive from 2000

Cassie plans March comeback ...No squash in Athens 2004 as all new sports are rejected ...Bailey & Atkinson to make WISPA Grand Prix Finals debuts ... WISPA President Fitz-Gerald fined ... by WISPA ... Mike Corby elected SRA President ...Rodney Eyles retires from PSA circuit ... WISPA sign $10m Fablon deal ... WSF President elected to GAISF Council ...WSF Men's World Championship for Melbourne ...PSA 1$m deal World Open for India ... SRA Launch new development initiative ... Nicol David tops first WISPA 'Rising Stars' list ... WSF President Susie Simcock carries Olympic Torch ... Tom Tarantino appointed Patron of WISPA ... Michelle Martin catches up with WISPA tour in Peru ...Fitz-Gerald withdraws from WISPA US circuit ... sponsorship deal for Nicol David .. WISPA launch 'Rising Stars' scheme ... Barada leaves hospital after stabbing ...PAR not standard - WSF backs standard scoring ...Sarah Fitz-Gerald receives Australian tribute ... Jahangir PIA "Sportsman of the Millennium" ...SRA announces 8 year sponsorship deal ...Scots out of Europe ... Peter at the Palace ... SRA Court Crash ... Michelle Martin enrolled in WISPA Hall of Fame ... SRA re-appoints Howard Harding ... Squash wins place in 2002 Asian Games  

CASSIE PLANS MARCH COMEBACK  28-Dec
By ALAN THATCHER
Cassie in trouble at Edinburgh ...
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.


Eyles wins the World Open in 1997END 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

Natalie GraingerGermany'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. 

Ahmed BaradaBarada 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-GeraldSarah 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

Watch out, lads !!!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
Sarah Fitz-Gerald
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

Howard HardingThe 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.

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