WSA Withdraws Glass Floor Sanction
The Professional Squash Association has withdrawn its sanction of glass-floored squash courts, with effect from 1st March 2008.
The decision follows detailed consultation with PSA members—the overall conclusion of which was that such floors are not consistently safe in all environments. The all-glass ASB court was used in Bermuda for the Endurance World Open, but the humid conditions resulted in players slipping, sliding and falling all over the place…and disruptive breaks during games to wipe the floor dry.
“Our prime concern is for the safety of our players and until such flooring is suitable for all possible conditions, we feel we must take this action,” said PSA Chief Executive Gawain Briars.
“We will continue to work closely with all manufactures on this potentially important development to provide as much help as we can in overcoming its current shortcomings.”
Super Series Finals Returns To London in 2008 The ATCO Super Series Finals—London 2008 squash championships will bring together the top eight qualifiers from the annual PSA Super Series World Tour and will return to the Broadgate Arena in the heart of London’s Square Mile from 19-23 May after a one-year hiatus when it was staged in Manchester.
The Super Series Finals bring together the top eight qualifiers from the annual PSA Super Series Tour to compete in a week-long event. The tournament boasts one of the richest prize funds in the sport and TV highlights are distributed to a large global audience. First staged in Switzerland in 1992, the event moved to the unique location of Broadgate Arena in the heart of London’s Square Mile in 1999.
“London has been chosen for its significance in helping the event to attract significant commercial partners, combined with additional marketing, PR and promotional opportunities—which would obviously help drive the success of the championships at all levels,” said joint promoters Ziad Al-Turki, Vice-President of the ATCO Group, and Paul Walters, founder of the internationalSPORTgroup.
“Furthermore, VisitLondon have shown a great deal of interest in bringing the event back to London.”
PSA Chief Executive Gawain Briars added: “The return of the Super Series Finals to London is a natural fit. Ziad Al Turki and Paul Walters are demonstrating their forward vision in bringing the event back to the English capital, whose squash market will soak up the dynamic match play of this pinnacle eight-man event of the PSA world tour.”
2008 event seeds:
[1] Amr Shabana (EGY)
[2] Ramy Ashour (EGY)
[3] Gregory Gaultier (FRA)
[4] David Palmer (AUS)
[5] Nick Matthew (ENG)
[6] James Willstrop (ENG)
[7] Thierry Lincou (FRA)
[8] Wael El Hindi (EGY)
