15-Mar-05:
Squash Steps Up Bid
For Olympic Recognition
Squash is this week stepping up its bid for inclusion in the 2012
Olympic Games.
The World Squash Federation has been lobbying hard for a place at
the Olympic table for more than 20 years and this year the sport's
leaders hope their hard work will finally pay off.
Squash was recently nominated by the IOC as one of five sports which
would be "studied further" with a view to inclusion in the Olympic
Games programme for 2012.
The WSF will be inviting guests from the IOC, and London's 2012
Olympic bid team, to see top-class squash at first hand at the
ISS Canary Wharf Classic,
which takes place this week in London's Docklands.
The event, which is being staged a gentle lob away from Lord Coe's
2012 London Bid offices at Canary Wharf, features eight of the
world's leading 11 players in action on a brand new all-glass court.
Use of portable courts has enabled squash to break out of its
club-based environment to stage major events such as this in
spectacular locations.
More Spectacular Venues
As well as the glass and steel exhibition area at the East
Wintergarden in Canary Wharf, other tournaments are staged at Boston
Symphony Hall, New York's Grand Central Terminal, and across London
at the Broadgate Centre in the city.
Other past venues have included the Royal Albert Hall and an
open-air amphitheatre at the foot of the Great Pyramids in Giza,
Egypt.
Ironically, rain showers forced Saturday's final of the Kuwait Open
to be moved from an open-air harbour-side location to a club court
to enable to the matches to be completed.
Former world champion Peter Nicol, who lost in the Kuwait final to
Australia's David Palmer, is naturally anxious for squash to join
the Olympic movement.
Squash in many Games
Squash is a successful part of the Commonwealth Games, Asian Games,
African Games and Pan-American Games - and Nicol, a co-promoter of
the ISS Canary Wharf Classic, says: "Squash fully deserves to be in
the Olympics.
"To win any kind of Olympic medal would be the ultimate pinnacle of
a squash player's career."
Nicol, who won a gold medal in the 1998 Commonwealth Games in
Malaysia and silver in Manchester in 2002, took on his great rival,
Canada's Jonathon Power, in the opening match at Canary Wharf on
Monday. Nicol faced Power in both of those Commonwealth finals - and
leads their career head-to-head series 22-19, despite losing to the
Canadian in the event opener.
Neither is likely to be in action should squash gain a place in the
2012 Olympic Games, but one man hoping to be at the peak of his
career then is 21-year-old rising star James Willstrop.
IOC visit Canary Wharf
The world No9 from Pontefract in Yorkshire is the reigning Canary
Wharf champion and began the defence of his title against Australian
Anthony Ricketts, who recently achieved his first major career
success by winning New York's Tournament of Champions final at Grand
Central Station.
Nicol, Power, Ricketts and Willstrop all feature in the Canada Place
qualifying pool at Canary Wharf.
The Jubilee Mall group features England No1 Lee Beachill, Scotland's
big-hitter John White, who recorded 172mph at Canary Wharf last
year, and former world champions Palmer and Amr Shabana of Egypt.
|
11-Jan:
Olympic Optimism
15-Mar:
Squash steps up
Olympic bid
18-Apr:
Olympic Hopes take
a knock
28-Apr:
Dramatic venues a boost
18-May:
Squash and the
Olympics - a perfect match
08-Jun:
Olympic sports gang up
A delegation of IOC
delegates
is due to visit Canary Wharf tonight ...
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