Category: "associations"

Squash Players Target World Record To Back 2020 Olympic Bid!

Squash players all over the world are uniting to create the biggest squash match in history, with 2 teams playing in one global event showcasing the sport’s bid for a place in the 2020 Olympic Games.

World Squash Day takes place on Saturday October 20th and Clubs are invited to field 2 teams of 20 players, with team members playing against their opposite number in 1 game up to 20 points. The scores from every club will count towards an overall global result between Team Squash and Team 2020.

World leading professionals support the project: World champion Nick Matthew said: “This is a great idea for squash players all over the world to back the Olympic bid.”

World Squash Day organizers hope the total figure of competitors will run into tens of thousands, placing it as one of the biggest sports fixtures in history, as well as certainly the biggest squash match ever.

Andrew Shelley, CEO of the World Squash Federation, said: “There are more than 50,000 courts spread across the world and to give the players on all of them the chance to compete in the same championship will bring the world of squash together in such a unique way!”

Event founder Alan Thatcher commented: “Our aim is to get this event into the Guinness Book of Records, and we hope that kind of response will show a tremendous global support for squash and the Olympic bid!”


Corren claims 40th PSA Tour title!

Australia’s Mike Corren clocked up his 40th title on the PSA World Tour when he beat Englishman Lewis Walters in the final of the International Golden Open in Kalgoorlie, Australia.

Corren was leading 11-8, 11-2 when second seed Walters, who injured his ankle during the quarter-finals, decided he was unable to continue, handing Corren his 3rd Golden Open crown in the past 4 years.

The 38-years-old Corren is showing no signs of slowing down and said he had now set his sights on winning 50 PSA titles.

Final:
[1] Mike Corren (AUS) bt [2] Lewis Walters (ENG) 11-8, 11-2 ret. (20m)

Semi-finals:
[1] Mike Corren (AUS) bt [3] Justin Beard (AUS) 11-7, 11-4, 11-6 (30m)
[2] Lewis Walters (ENG) bt [4] Matthew Serediak (CAN) 12-10, 11-2, 11-6 (41m)

Quarter-finals:
[1] Mike Corren (AUS) bt Tom Pashley (ENG) 11-8, 11-9, 11-9 (43m)
[3] Justin Beard (AUS) bt Tim Cowell (AUS) 11-1, 11-6, 11-7 (38m)
[4] Matthew Serediak (CAN) bt Adam Murrills (ENG) 11-7, 11-7, 11-1 (28m)
[2] Lewis Walters (ENG) bt [Q] Arthur Moineau (FRA) 14-12, 11-5, 11-7 (38m)

1st round:
[1] Mike Corren (AUS) bt Cameron Stafford (CAY) 11-5, 11-7, 11-8 (25m)
Tom Pashley (ENG) bt [Q] Joshua Southwell-Nobbs (AUS) 11-8, 11-0, 11-4 (24m)
Tim Cowell (AUS) bt Walter Koteka (AUS) 11-5, 11-4, 11-7 (23m)
[3] Justin Beard (AUS) bt [Q] Jack Jago (ENG) 11-4, 11-13, 11-8, 11-6 (54m)
[4] Matthew Serediak (CAN) bt [Q] Richard Birks (ENG) 8-11, 11-3, 11-5, 11-2 (43m)
Adam Murrills (ENG) bt Reuben Phillips (ENG) 11-8, 11-7, 11-2 (37m)
[Q] Arthur Moineau (FRA) bt Jonathan Geekie (SCO) 11-9, 11-6, 11-5 (26m)
[2] Lewis Walters (ENG) bt Jamie McErvale (AUS) 11-9, 11-5, 9-11, 11-9 (49m)


Sherbini becomes youngest ever World top ten star!

It is the Egyptian teenagers who got the headlines for the WSA June Rankings, as Nour El Sherbini (ri) reach the final of the Allam British Open in May, beating 3 higher seeds on the way to be the youngest and the 1st Egyptian female in a British Open final. The sixteen-year-old leaps 8 places in the WSA Rankings to sit at No7 in the world.

At the top of the rankings, Nicol David (le, MAS) and Jenny Duncalf (ENG) remain unmoved, but Laura Massaro (ENG) has maintained her game of cat-and-mouse with Madeline Perry (IRE) by reclaiming the No3 spot. Raneem El Weleily of Egypt has moved up to No4, her highest ranking to date, whilst Perry has dropped to 5th spot.

June 2012 top 20 (inc. points average):
1 [1] Nicol David MAS 3,654
2 [2] Jenny Duncalf ENG 1,643
3 [4] Laura Massaro ENG 1,439
4 [5] Raneem El Weleily EGY 1,404
5 [3] Madeline Perry IRL 1,298
6 [6] Annie Au HKG 1,009
7 [15] Nour El Sherbini EGY 958
8 [10] Camille Serme FRAU 937
9 [8] Rachael Grinham AUS 889
10 [7] Kasey Brown AUS 870
11 [9] Natalie Grinham NED 868
12 [11] Samantha Teran MEX 756
13 [12]Joelle King NZL 749
14 [13] Low Wee Wern MAS 659
15 [14] Dipika Pallikal IND 657
16 [17] Donna Urquhart AUS 509
17 [16] Joey Chan HKG 507
18 [19] Jaclyn Hawkes NZL 499
19 [18] Omneya Abdel Kawy EGY 436
20 [21] Delia Arnold MAS 416


Willstrop at the top – Matthew gets closer!

Historic title success in last month's Allam British Open has seen Nick Matthew (pic) reduce the gap behind James Willstrop in the new June Dunlop PSA Men's World Rankings – but fellow Englishman Willstrop holds onto the top spot.

Matthew beat Egyptian rival Ramy Ashour in straight games in the final of the 4th PSA World Series event of the year at the prestigious O2 Arena in London to become the 1st Englishman in the 82-year history of the British Open to win a 3rd title.

But the dramatic events in the final stages of the 1st staging of the world-famous event since 2009 did nothing to change the top 5 of the latest world rankings – Willstrop moving into his 5th month at No1, followed by Matthew at 2; British Open quarter-finalist Greg Gaultier in 3rd place; Ashour at No4 and fellow Egyptian Karim Darwish at 5.

But England’s Peter Barker, the Londoner who fully capitalised on ‘hometown advantage’ at the O2 by beating Frenchman Gaultier for only the second time over the past 7 years, rises to a career-high-equalling 6th place.

Thierry Lincou, the 36-year-old Frenchman who won the Bluenose Classic in Canada in April unseeded, returns to the top 10 after slipping to a 10-and-a-half-year career low 13 earlier in the year.

And England’s Tom Richards also equals his career-best ranking of 15 after making the British Open last 16 for the first time.

After coming close to producing the biggest shock of the 2012 British Open by leading 2/0 and 8-6 against Ramy Ashour, Spaniard Borja Golan celebrates the biggest rise in the top 20 by jumping two places to No18.

June 2012 top 20 (inc. points average):
1 [1] James Willstrop ENG 1,685
2 [2] Nick Matthew ENG 1,503
3 [3] Gregory Gaultier FRA 1,296
4 [4] Ramy Ashour EGY 1,123
5 [5] Karim Darwish EGY 961
6 [7] Peter Barker ENG 683
7 [6] Amr Shabana EGY 650
8 [8] Mohamed El Shorbagy EGY 615
9 [9] Laurens Jan Anjema NED 537
10 [11] Thierry Lincou FRA 454
11 [10] Daryl Selby ENG 432
12 [12] Omar Mosaad EGY 419
13 [13] Alister Walker BOT 373
14 [14] Hisham Mohd Ashour EGY 367
15 [16] Tom Richards ENG 365
16 [15] Mohd Azlan Iskandar MAS 354
17 [17] Adrian Grant ENG 346
18 [20] Borja Golan ESP 329
19 [18] Cameron Pilley AUS 328
20 [19] Simon Rosner GER 316


Matthew Tops PSA World Series Standings

A blistering victory in Sunday's final of the Allam British Open has taken Nick Matthew (ri) back to the top of the 2012 Dunlop PSA World Series Standings.

The 31-year-old Englishman ended a run of 4 successive defeats by Ramy Ashour to overcome his Egyptian rival in straight games before a sell-out crowd at the O2 Arena in London.

The triumph in the 4th PSA World Series event of the year makes Matthew the 1st Englishman to claim a hat-trick of titles in the 82-history of the world’s most famous squash tournament.

Matthew, winner of the first World Series event of the year at the JP Morgan Tournament of Champions in New York in January, moves ahead of fellow Englishman James Willstrop by just 10 points.

Willstrop, the world No1 and winner of the Davenport North American Open in February, fell to Ashour in the British Open semi-finals.

But Ashour, who also beat Willstrop in last month’s final of the El Gouna International Open in Egypt, strengthens his grip on 3rd place in the latest standings – 100 points ahead of 4th-placed Frenchman Greg Gaultier.

The top eight players in the list at the end of the year qualify for a place in the 2012 ATCO PSA World Series Finals in London early next year.

Latest 2012 PSA World Series Standings:

Position (Prev)
1 2 Nick Matthew (ENG) 280
2 1 James Willstrop (ENG) 270
3 3 Ramy Ashour (EGY) 230
4 4 Gregory Gaultier (FRA) 130
5 6 Amr Shabana (EGY) 90
6= 5 Karim Darwish (EGY) 75
6= 8 Mohamed El Shorbagy (EGY) 75
8= 7 Simon Rosner (GER) 65
8= 19 Peter Barker (ENG) 65
10= 9 Adrian Grant (ENG) 60
10= 14 Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) 60
12= 11 Daryl Selby (ENG) 50
12= 11 Cameron Pilley (AUS) 50
14= 9 Hisham Mohd Ashour (EGY) 45
14= 14 Marwan El Shorbagy (EGY) 45
14= 14 Nicolas Mueller (SUI) 45


The Squash World Loves iLoveSquash!

As the world’s famous squash event, the British Open, marks its return to the world stage at London’s O2 Arena after a two-year absence, iLoveSquash becomes the latest success in the sport which is bidding to join the Olympic Games programme in 2020.

Launched on Facebook in 2009, the standalone page provides regular news from the world of squash for Facebook fans – not using the presence to drive traffic onto a separate webpage. The daily posts inform the Facebook squash community of tournament news, player features, pictures and videos.

In addition the posts are also fed onto the www.i-Love-Squash.com site which provides additional information for those who want more than the brief Facebook content.

Now with more than 30,000 fans, iLoveSquash leads its social media rivals in the sport by a significant margin.
“The aim for the next year is to create partnerships with players, clubs, tournaments, the governing bodies of the squash nations and the leading associations in the world of squash to support the principal aim – to get Squash into the Olympics,” said co-founder Peter Schmidl.

Alex Gough, CEO of the men’s international player body the Professional Squash Association (PSA), said: “iLoveSquash is a real success story for squash in terms of the game reaching as many squash fans as possible. I am sure they will continue to reach more and more fans and help to grow the sport further.”

Andrew Shelley, CEO of the World Squash Federation (WSF), added: “Squash players are great communicators, and iLoveSquash provides a great platform. It has been growing well since its formation and I am sure that it will get bigger and provide a great service in the years to come.”

Tim Garner, Tour Director of the Women’s Squash Association (WSA), said: “iLoveSquash has really grasped the social media concept and given those who love our sport the perfect vehicle to connect. It’s obvious from the number of fans that it is a success and I am sure that it will grow organically as our game evolves towards Olympic inclusion!!”

Leading players are also taken by the successful initiative: “I think iLoveSquash is a great idea about informing people and the squash community about all the world of squash,” said Frenchman Gregory Gaultier, the world No2. “We know how many people use Facebook and how important it is to talk about our sport and try to attract as many people as possible to be one day part of the Olympic family. I love the idea of the iLoveSquash concept.”

Nick Matthew, the two-time World Champion from England, added: “Social media is very important in the modern world. iLoveSquash is a great way for squash fans of all ages, from everywhere in the world, to interact and share their love for our game online.”

Nicol David, the Malaysian who has topped the women’s world rankings since August 2006, is also a fan: “The main aim for Squash is to be in the Olympics and I would do anything to get squash that spot it deserves in the Games. Squash2020.com is our bid campaign and it’s a way for the public to play their part in supporting squash to get into the Olympics. If Squash gets the bid in 2020, then I would continue to work hard and get myself ready to participate in the Games eight years from now. iLoveSquash is going to be a driving force for this too.”

Nico Limmeroth, the site’s creative partner, concluded: “We will implement new ideas to maintain our growth rate to get to 50,000 fans over the next 15 months.”

Facebook site: www.facebook.com/IloveSquash


Players support the 2020 Olympic squash bid!

Besides the matches of Allam British Open in the O2 Arena in London, the World Squash Federation (WSF) using the opportunity to get the best players together to promote the 2020 bid. Nick Matthew, James Willstrop and Ramy Ashour presenting the “Squash 2020 back the Bid” campaign and asking all the squash fans around the world to do so too …


Qatar to Host 2012 PSA World Championship!

The 2012 PSA World Squash Championship will be held in Doha in December, following an agreement reached between the Professional Squash Association and the Qatar Squash Federation.

The $300,000 event, the second richest in the sport's history, will take place from 7-14 December. Qatar will be hosting the event formerly known as the 'World Open' for the 3rd time, having previously staged the premier championship on the PSA World Tour in 1998 and 2004.

On the issue of the event's title change, Beachill explained: "The winner is the World Champion – so we decided to drop 'Open' and replace it with 'Championship' for clarity. Most other sports also have a world championship – we feel it's much more understandable."

England's Nick Matthew is the reigning PSA World Champion after becoming the 1st player for 15 years to successfully defend the title last November in Rotterdam.