10 SUPER YEARS This year marks the
tenth year that Satinder Baj has promoted the Super Series Finals. It is
a neat little event that has found its niche – nurtured by Satinder,
commonly called Baj, and polished by the WSM management team. It has
come a long way since Baj took over the fallow event that was first held
in Switzerland in 1992.
Now sponsored by
Brit Insurance the Super Series Finals is one of the most established
fixtures on the world calendar. The event is well situated, well
presented, friendly and has a familiarity about it that leads to its
eager anticipation. It is a meeting place where acquaintances get
together and where the players can find that rare balance between
competition and exhibition that makes for exciting spectating. The
players are pleased to be situated in the centre of London and looked
after in the best hotels.
Asked what makes it
a super event Baj echoes Rocco Forte, the hotel baron, when he says,
“Location, location, location.”
Certainly the
outdoor location in the Broadgate Arena, a circular multi-level
amphitheatre that doubles as an ice rink in the winter and is overlooked
by skyscrapers, is spectacular. Transparent windows in the marquee draw
crowds of passersby to marvel at the acrobatic contortionists pursuing
the rubber ball. The location, a limited space, creates a sort of
intimacy. The cafés and bars surrounding the Arena impinge on the event,
the outside revelry disrupts through the thin walls of the marquee but
the bustle adds liveliness to the occasion and the bars the opportunity
to socialize.
But location is not
the whole story of what has made a lapsed event into one of the most
established fixtures on the world calendar. The credit must go the
Satinder Bajwa for his enthusiasm and commitment – perhaps also
persistence – and his ability to engage specialist partners that
compliment his own abilities.
Following a coaching
and playing career in the US Baj returned to the UK where he coached Mir
Zaman Gul, from no.90 in the world to no.6. He then took on the
challenge of managing the affairs of world champion Jansher Khan.
The first Super
Series Finals were if anything a showcase for Jansher. Baj staged them
at the modern Galleria shopping complex in Hatfield north of London. It
was a first for England.
"We established and
then consolidated the event there. Then after three years we were faced
with the decision to grow the event or move to the city," explained
Baj.
Equitable Life, who
sponsored the event then, were supportive of the move and so were the
Sports Management company who had taken on the promotion of Jansher.
Squash was infiltrated right into the heart of a main public
thoroughfare in the financial capital of the world. Tony Braine of
British Land, owners of Broadgate, was instrumental in making this
happen.
The sports
management company Baj had used to manage Jansher also provided their
event management expertise.
“I had seen the
benefits of using their marketing ability. It helped me put my expertise
in squash to good value. Through them I met Andrew White, their head of
golf, and when things changed at the company I moved the event to
Andrew’s new sports marketing agency, WSM. One of the reasons we have
been successful is that I have been able to work with industry experts
to make the event commercially viable.
“I believe that more
squash entrepreneurs should consider working with industry experts – if
there were more people out there doing this then I think we would have
more commercially viable events. We need to develop these types of
partnerships. It’s a model we need big time in our sport.”
Putting on a squash
event outdoors in the heart of the City of London has been a challenge
but it has been rewarded with some exceptional squash. Jansher Khan won
four of the first five titles played for and when the event moved to
Broadgate Peter Nicol started his three title run. Perhaps the 1999
Final (played in 2000) was the most memorable in Super Series Finals
history with Nicol finally edging out a rampant Simon Parke in a
brilliant shot making spectacular that earned a standing ovation with
Kate Hoey the Minister of Sport standing as well.
At the beginning of
the 2002 Finals (played in 2003) the head-to-head rivalry between Peter
Nicol and Jonathon Power stood at 16-all in matches. At the end of the
week it was 16-all, two games all and 14-all. Then Power raised one
finger. The match, the week, came down to one point. Power scored with a
perfect paced shot that died to secure his first title to a standing
ovation.
Power had raised one
finger before against David Palmer in the 2000 semi-finals but famously
lost that time in perhaps the most brilliant rally ever televised. The
Super Series Finals have produced that type of squash – brilliant
competition, brilliant exhibition play.
It is the type of
play that provides an attractive proposition to broadcasters and the TV
highlights of the Super Series Finals are now distributed to a sizeable
global audience. Where there is TV, sponsors generally follow and Brit
Insurance is now entering its third year of title sponsorship of the
Finals.
This year they have
made the shortlist for Best Sponsorship of a Sporting Event or Programme
at the UK Sports Industry Awards for the second consecutive year. They
have made the event work for them and have been recognized as having
done this.
“The portability of
the game has allowed us to sponsor the only sporting event on our
doorstep – in the city’s square mile,” explains Philip Wolski of Brit
Insurance. “In many sponsorships they just write a cheque and sit back
and wait for the media value but what we work very hard at is activating
the event. Creating standalone media opportunities during tournament
week is one example, such as last year’s challenge match between Ellery
Hanley and Alec Stewart. We also work hard to engage employees and
clients through coaching clinics and exhibition matches. This year we’re
working with the Lord’s Taverners on the Celeb-Am charity event. Our
association with WSM has allowed us to do things beyond the event
itself. It has worked superbly for us. We have activated it from a
charitable and corporate social responsibility viewpoint as well as
engaging our suppliers and distributors.
The super little
event at Broadgate works well for the players, spectators and sponsors.
Agreement has been reached that it can continue for another five years
in which time Baj will nurture it, aided by the experts of course. |