The Professional Squash Association (PSA) has signed an agreement with leading court manufacturer ASB to develop new initiatives to enhance the presentation of the sport.
An early result of the new partnership is the new dark floor installed in the latest ASB all-glass show court on which the semi-finals and finals of this week’s PSA World Series Cathay Pacific Sun Hung Kai Financial Hong Kong Open will be played.
The unique court, which features doors in the sidewalls to eliminate the central door on the back wall, has been erected at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre on the waterfront at Tsim Sha Tsui.
It is this spectacular setting which will host the International Olympic Committee (IOC) delegates who are visiting Hong Kong as part of the ‘inspection’ process to help determine which of the shortlisted sports should win a place on the 2020 Olympic Games programme.
The new PSA/ASB court partnership will help progress court technology and increase glass court awareness to events around the world. Furthermore, the arrangement will make available special PSA rates for rental and court sales.
“We are delighted to announce this new agreement with ASB to become the official court partner of the PSA,” said COO Lee Beachill. “ASB are without doubt the most innovative court manufacturer on the market today and are constantly looking at new ways to enhance the squash viewing experience.
“We hope to work closely with them over the next period to further improve this product and showcase the spectacular attributes of men’s professional squash.
“ASB is the latest company to join an ever-growing list of partners for the PSA – confirming the continued growth of the association,” added the former world number one. “We are very pleased with the feedback from our current partners and we are sure that our relationship with ASB will be successful for both parties.”
Horst Babinsky, the founder of German company ASB, said: “My son Christof, who is now in charge of the active management of ASB, together with Peter Schmidl, who coordinates all international partner- and relationships, have worked for a long time on this new partnership with the PSA.
“Together with the PSA players and their management Alex Gough and Lee Beachill, we want to optimize the presentation of squash.
“The first result of the cooperation is the new black ASB SquashFloor, which was successfully tested earlier this month at the Women’s World Team Championship in Nimes where three ASB ShowGlassCourts were used together for the first time,” concluded Babinsky, squash innovator for more than 30 years.
Zdenek Klos, CEO of ASB international sales, is also delighted with the new PSA agreement: “Additionally I believe that the agreement will help us to get the idea of showcasing the sport also in normal clubs to the club owners as well.”
