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Busy Time For Squash In Ecuador
The weekend
saw the start of the 7th Festival Olympico Ecuatorianno, a gathering of
3,000 athletes competing in 39 sports alongside a number of cultural events
until 24 May in Ecuador's capital city Quito - and Squash will have a
major part to play. This comes at an important time for the sport, as it bids
for a place in the Olympic Games from 2016.
Squash is
one of the eleven sports in the event to be designated as International,
so this means that although the Festival is a domestic event there will be
several overseas players competing in the Squash singles competition.
While
checking on the fine-tuning of the event and the preparations for the Men's
World Junior Squash Team & Individual Championships to be held in
Ecuador next year, Deputy Minister of Sport Mr Raoul Ricorde was also
briefed about the hopes that Squash has to be included in the Olympic Games
programme for 2016.
Ecuador
Squash Federation President Mr Alberto Adum explained: “The whole of
South American Squash is behind our bid for the Olympics, and we see this yearly
festival as our step towards this. All the sports are on national TV now so
squash is known to everybody here, whether they play or not.”
Explaining
the importance of the Festival, Danilo Carrera D, Director of the Comité
Limpico Ecuatoria, said: “This sports festival is the most important and
large event in our country. The objective is to promote all the sports and to
encourage the athletes to become elite players and participate in the Olympic
cycle of events.”
For bid information please
visit
www.squash2016.info
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