Throughout August, there was a sense of a feel-good factor with Squash along the lines of a major revival in the sport post the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham – in the context of major playing nations looking to develop more opportunities to increase participation.
You may be thinking this is all well and good, but the sport has its community involvement side to help local causes too.
Nevertheless, we have unravelled our favourite news stories in August that have showcased the best of the sport:
Declan James looking to capitalise on success at Commonwealth Games
Not only did the 2022 Commonwealth Games see Gina Kennedy become the first English ladies’ Commonwealth Games Squash champion, but Declan James also became the first squash player of an ethnic background to win in Squash doubles player.
In an exclusive interview for the Voice newspaper, Declan spoke with Matthew Chadder about how rewarding it was to win a gold medal with James Wilstrop at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
Following the success of his gold in doubles squash, Declan James is now on a mission to more people can get involved.
As the only England team member from a diverse ethnic background, Declan spoke he was inspired by his uncle to take up squash and how the sport became a part of his life, along with other members of his family – who also play squash.
Squash tournament boosts hospital fund
Credit: Lynn News
When it comes to fundraising for a cause, we always like to see Squash doing its bit for a health-related cause.
The Lynn Squash Club based in West Norfolk donated the sum of £526.00 to the Urology Cancer Sisters Fund at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. The donation will go towards buying a piece of specialist laser equipment at the Emerson Unit.
As we all know, any fundraising for a cancer-related organisation is a good thing, especially as it is one of the many illnesses that need funding to help people of all ages.
Squash comes to a shopping mall
Credit: Squash Canada
Given the problems with Squash provision over the years, it seems that tournament organisers are looking for other ways to remedy the problem – now organisers of the JK Windsor Cup decided to host the 2022 edition with a conclusion at the Devonshire Mall, Windsor, Canada.
There was a JK Windsor Cup Men’s Invitational featuring top PSA stars Marwan El Shorbagy (Egypt), Miguel Rodriguez (Colombia), Eain Yow Ng (Malaysia), Shahjahan Khan (USA) and Ontarians Nick Sachvie and Mike McCue.
Both the international and Canadian professional players will be playing for a chance to win the $50,000 (USD) purse.
The inaugural winners were both Diego Elias (Peru) and Laura Tovar (Colombia).
This kind of tournament was truly unique given the locations of the matches, plus it was excellent for the local community of Windsor to watch an actual tournament in a unique location too.
History made at CASA Squash Jamaica
Chris Binnie (10x Senior CASA Champion)
The 37th edition of the CASA Senior tournament will be recognised as the greatest one of all with history made at the 2022 tournament.
Having been postponed for two years due to the pandemic, Chris Binnie (Jamaica) won his 10th seniors title against number-two seed Khamal Cumberbatch (Barbados) in straight sets 14-12, 11-5, 11-5; but it was the first time he had ever won the title in Jamaica.
Having taken part in the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham recently, there was no doubt Chris’s motivation was high to secure another regional title.
We are happy for Chris and he is truly raising the Jamaican flag when it comes to Squash.
Meanwhile, in the women’s category, it was all Guyana final with Ashley Khalil taking on Taylor Fernandes.
Ashley Khalil – 2022 Ladies CASA Champion (credit Newsroom Guyana)
Ashley won in a thrilling final, 9-11, 11-5, 11-2, and 11-4 to take her first senior individual title. Ironically, Ashley also won the women’s doubles playing alongside compatriot Ashley DeGroot – they defeated the Cayman Islands pair of Jade Pitcairn and Michaela Ransbury in straight sets 11-6, 11-8.
Calls for Caribbean Squash to unite
On the eve of the 2022 Senior CASA in Jamaica, Mr Chris Samuda, president of the Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA) has lent his support to the Jamaica Squash Association’s mission to grow participation in the sport Jamaica and make the country a popular venue for major regional and international tournaments.
This support echoes our thoughts on why Squash has the potential to major sport in Jamaica along the same lines as cricket and athletes.
In an article in the Jamaican Observer (23rd August 2022), Mr Samuda even suggested that more needs to be done by the guardians of the sport within the region to do more for the development of the game through a pooling of resources.
“It’s the time now for us to pool our resources as regionalists and not as nationalists in creating and investing in a regional high-performance squash academy with rules of engagement for talent identification and development and with a strategic and business game plan of graduating talent from that academy to doctoral pursuits and elite achievements in the sport of squash on the international stage”.
When it comes to player development and Squash being in the Olympics, his views were:
“It’s the time, right for a plural rather than a singular Caribbean perspective of development of the sport of squash in ensuring that we have our athletes consistently ranked in the first fifty in the world? It’s the moment now for regional activism to complement global advocacy in ensuring that the sport of squash gains ascendancy to the Olympic stage?”
Chris Samuda, speaking in the Jamaican Observer
As most of our team have Jamaican lineage, we totally agree with Mr Samuda’s thoughts about making Squash more prominent in Jamaica, especially as players can inspire young people based in the UK of Jamaican parentage to take the sport, plus hopefully have the opportunity to take in a tournament in Jamaica too.
Building a legacy post-Commonwealth Games
These news stories highlight how squash is going to move in a positive direction, following the excellent Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
How this is? Well, it looks like each Commonwealth country with a strong Squash community is looking to collaborate in highlighting the success of their squash players in major tournaments, those squash players who have gone under the radar are now having their chance to shine following their title success.
From a community perspective, news of Lynn Squash Club’s fundraising activity for the Urology Cancer Sisters Fund at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital highlights a positive of what the sport does from a corporate social responsibility perspective.
To sum up, both Jamaica and Guyana doing well at the Senior CASA tournament shows how both nations are ready for the world stage; and enhances why the Caribbean is a worthy host for PSA sanctioned tournament.
When this happens, Squash will have the best post-Commonwealth Games legacy as young people of culture will know that the sport is played the entire world.
