World Squash Federation
Instant Update Issue
17
Full Newsletter in PDF Format
March 2008
OLYMPIC LATEST
Our next milestone is in April 2008 when the IOC announces the
shortlist for the Olympic
Programme Review 2008/09. We must then extend the successful
campaign which saw Squash
come out on top of the five sports on the 2005 shortlist. The
good news now is that only a simple
majority vote is required - rather than the two thirds needed
then! Furthermore, we have made
significant progress against the Programme Commission's report
for Squash in 2005 - in areas such
as Popularity, Development and Presentation.
WSF EXPANDS
Sri Lanka and Ecuador were welcomed as full members of the WSF
at the AGM in Bermuda in
December - bringing the total membership of the Federation to
138 nations. Sri Lanka made their
debut in the 2007 ICL Men's World Team Championship in India,
while Ecuador will compete for the
first time in the 2008 Men's World Junior Championships in
Switzerland.
HISTORIC AGREEMENT
DOUBLES
After exhaustive analysis and trialling of various options by
Squash New Zealand, a proposal to
increase the width of the Doubles court for the elite game was
approved by the WSF AGM in
Bermuda. Thus, whilst the current official doubles court (width
7.62m) will continue to be used at all
other events and for recreational play, a court that is 0.8m
wider (ie. 8.42m) will now be used for all
World events that include elite athletes - the intention being
to make elite doubles more exciting to
The WSF concluded its largest ever sponsorship
deal in January with the renewal of its agreement
with Dunlop Slazenger International. The new
five-year agreement for Dunlop to be the 'Official
Ball' of the WSF extends until 2012 the
relationship first made in 1991 - marking Dunlop
as WSF's longest standing sponsor. Picture
shows Dunlop Slazenger International's Indoor
Sports Group Marketing Manager Toby Marcham
(left) with WSF Chief Executive & Secretary
General Christian Leighton
play and watch. Some of the events that will use the wider court
include the World Doubles
Championships Chennai 2008 and the Commonwealth Games Delhi
2010.
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS RE-LAUNCH INITIATIVE
This new initiative reaped significant benefits in the two
senior championships in 2007 - the Women's
World Open in Madrid, and the World Men's Team Championship
in Chennai - including:
WORLD JUNIOR RANKING SYSTEM
Delegates at the 2007 AGM backed the WSF's initiative to
introduce a global ranking system for
Juniors - (a) to boost participation in Junior competitions; and
(b) to make the process of seeding at
World Junior Championships easier. "The vision follows our
acknowledgement that Junior squash is
growing globally and complements the decision to make the
biennial World Junior Individual
Championship an annual event," explained WSF Vice President
Frank van Loon. The roll-out of the
new system is expected by September 2008.
ALL AFRICA GAMES ZAMBIA 2011
Squash has returned to the programme of this important
quadrennial multi-sport event after last
being included in the 2003 Games in Abuja, Nigeria. "Our
inclusion on the programme of the All
Africa Games Zambia 2011 is a welcome boost to our development
drive in the continent," said WSF
President Jahangir Khan. "Africa is already producing World
Champions at senior and junior level in
Egypt - but people should also note that with 27 playing
nations, 21 MNFs and over 6,000 courts, we
have the infrastructure for further development." The WSF is
currently considering the disciplines
and working with the Organising Committee on the planning
aspects of the Zambian Games.
WORLD WOMEN'S TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP CAIRO 2008
The Egyptian Federation has confirmed the excellent news that
that the event (30 Nov - 6 Dec) will
be held "under the auspices of the First Lady, Her Excellency
Mrs Suzanne Mubarak".
38TH WSF CONFERENCE & AGM 2008
This year's Conference (16-17 October), followed by the AGM on
18 October, will be held in
Manchester, England - alongside the Men's & Women's World Open
Championships, the finals of
which take place on 19 October. In addition, the World Squash
Awards will also take place in
Manchester on 18 October.
US COLLEGE CHAMPIONSHIPS RECORD
A record 51 teams, including 50 American colleges and
universities and one from Canada, competed
in the National College Team Championships in the USA in
February. "Collegiate squash has
simply exploded over the past decade," said CSA executive
director Ron Beck. Trinity College went
on to overwhelm principal rivals Princeton University to win the
title for a tenth successive season!
WSF STRENGTHENS EAST ASIAN GAMES LINKS
Celebrating the fact that Squash has been added to the 2009 East
Asian Games programme for the
first time, members of the WSF Management Committee enjoyed a
successful meeting in Hong Kong
with officials of the Organising Committee at the offices of the
2009 East Asian Games (Hong Kong)
Limited.
WORLD SQUASH DAY UNITES ENTHUSIASTS AROUND THE GLOBE
Squash enthusiasts around the globe united for World Squash Day
on Saturday 15 March, when
hosts of special activities were arranged at clubs and sports
centres all over the world to highlight the
sport's appeal. In the UK, organisers joined forces with Sport
Relief 2008 - the well-established fundraising
campaign, linked to Comic Relief, which is supported by famous
faces from the worlds of
sport and entertainment.
TOUR NEWS
The new WISPA Premiere Series, designed to encourage new women's
events in new countries, is
already celebrating its fifth success. Launched in September
2007 with the Icelandair Group Classic
in the Icelandic capital Reykjavik, the series continued with
pioneering tournaments in Portugal, Iran
and, early in the New Year, the Hangzhou Open in China. In
March, Hanoi hosted the WISPA
Vietnam Open, the first professional Squash event ever to be
staged in Vietnam.
The PSA is currently recruiting a new Chief Executive after the
surprise announcement of the
retirement of Gawain Briars after nine years at the helm.
Our congratulations to:
