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Squash 2016
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05-Mar-09:
Nicol joins Olympic Ambassadors
At a packed press conference in Kuala Lumpur (does anyone have any
photos ...
photos@squashsite.co.uk ), Nicol David, the Women’s World
No1 from Malaysia, announced that she is to become an ambassador for
Squash 2016, the sport’s campaign to be included in the
Olympic Games from 2016. An additional four top athletes have been
added to the list of three players already announced, meaning the
bid team now have eight sporting Ambassadors flying the flag for the
sport the globe over.
Nicol, who has been ranked No1 for an incredible three years,
highlighted how important the Olympic Games are to her: “For an
athlete there is no higher pinnacle of sporting achievement than an
Olympic medal. No Malaysian has ever won a gold medal, and I would
like to be the first. Squash is really strong in Asia, and making it
an Olympic sport would give all Asian women something incredible to
aim for.”
The other new ambassadors for Squash 2016 are: Rebecca Chiu,
Hong Kong’s top female player; Siyoli Lusaseni, the South
African player; Saurav Ghosal, Indian No1; and Englishman
Alister Walker, winner of three PSA titles.
They are joining the initial three ambassadors: former world
champion Thierry Lincou (France); world number three and
current World Open Champion Ramy Ashour (Egypt); and
Samantha Teran, the first Mexican woman to earn a world top 20
ranking.
Natalie Grainger, Squash 2016 Bid Team member and World No4,
also spoke at the press conference, saying: “Squash is a sport with
worldwide appeal, and the fact that the two top players in the world
come from Malaysia and Egypt mean that as a sport we can help take
the Olympic Games into countries that don’t typically produce
Olympians.
“As a player I’m so excited about this opportunity and we’re
determined to help it happen,” added the Pan American Games
champion.
Squash, played in 175 countries by over 20 million people, is
bidding against six other sports for inclusion in the Olympic Games.
The IOC Executive Board will meet to assess submissions from each of
the sports in June, before the final vote by all of the IOC voting
members in October.
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Ziad Al-Turki, Peter Nicol, Thierry Lincou, Natalie Grainger, Ramy
Ashour, Samantha Teran, Lee Beachill, Alex Gough |
27-Jan-09:
World Squash Athlete
Ambassadors rally in New York
Grand Central Terminal in New York provided the perfect platform for
the first meeting of Squash’s Olympic Athlete Ambassadors, a
select group of leading players nominated by the PSA and WISPA as
the sport's two international player bodies rallied to the call from
the World Squash Federation to spearhead the sport’s bid to join the
Olympic Games programme in 2016.
Both organisations have pledged their full and unwavering support to
the WSF-led campaign.
“We are working very closely with both PSA and WISPA – both of whose
boards and membership are totally supportive of the Olympic
campaign,” said the WSF’s Olympic Bid Manager Scott Garrett.
“The purpose of appointing Athlete Ambassadors is to have real,
live, participating athletes to represent the sport to the IOC and
any interested parties seeking information about the sport regarding
the sport's efforts to get into the Olympics," added Garrett.
Natalie Grainger, ranked four in the world and President of
WISPA, echoed the WSF's commitment: "We have come together because
we fully represent what Squash is all about: we are not only
eloquent, and span a broad mix of cultures, but we are passionate
about Squash becoming an Olympic sport,” said the new Athlete
Ambassador.
"For us, and all elite players, the Olympic Games would be the
absolute highlight of the Squash calendar," added Grainger.
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The initial line-up of Squash’s Olympic
Athlete Ambassadors is:
Natalie Grainger (USA), the WISPA President and former world
number one who is the reigning Pan American Games champion
Lee Beachill (England), the PSA President; a former world
number one and two times Commonwealth Games gold medallist and
three-time British National champion
Peter Nicol (England), a board member of the PSA and former
world champion who has won four Commonwealth Games gold medals and
has held the world number one ranking for 60 months
Thierry Lincou (France), a former world champion and world
number one, currently ranked seven in the world, who has been French
National champion a record ten times
Ramy Ashour (Egypt), the 21-year-old world number three and
reigning world champion who became the first player to win two
successive world junior men’s titles
Samantha Teran (Mexico), a three-time winner of the Pan
American championship and the first Mexican woman to earn a world
top 20 ranking
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