|
El Hindi hopes for good fortune |
|
 CIMB Malaysian Open Squash Championships
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
By Haresh Deol
MALAY MAIL: Unlike his peers who were dressed in a sporty manner, Egyptian wall basher Wael El Hindi was quite clearly different. Donning a white shirt and tailored black pants, Hindi looked more like a movie star than an athlete.
He hopes to be the future star of squash and hopes it to begin with the Malaysian Open where Hindi, from Cairo, hopes to be third time lucky.
In 2004 he was beaten in the final by Azlan Iskandar, while Ong Beng Hee denied him the title in 2005.
Currently ranked No 9, Hindi opens against English player Chris Ryder in the first round at the National Squash Centre in Bukit Jalil today.
“It’s really good to be back in Malaysia after a three-year absence,” said Hindi, who turned 28 last month.
“I was a losing finalist twice, so hopefully I’ll be able to make amends this time around. |
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Nicol Excited About Malaysian Open |
|
CIMB Malaysian Open Squash Championships
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
By Aftar Singh
THE STAR ON-LINE: World No. 1 Nicol David is excited about competing in this year’s US$53,500 CIMB Malaysian Open as it will be the first women’s squash Tour event to use the 11-point scoring system.
The top seed believes the new scoring system will make the game more competitive and more exciting.
“Players will have to change their mind-set under the new scoring system. However, the tactics and the strategy will be the same,” said Nicol, when comparing the new scoring format with the previous nine-point system.
All matches at the Malaysian Open, which begins today, will use the 11-point best-of-five-games format, the same as the one used in the men’s Professional Squash Association (PSA) circuit.
The Penangite, who will be gunning for her fourth consecutive Malaysian Open title, has an advantage as she had played under the new scoring system in a tournament in Rome two weeks ago. |
|
Read more...
|
|
|
More videos available HERE
Viewing hints, tips & help click HERE
For our It's Your Call .... officiating feature, click HERE
We're always on the look-out for more squash clips, please go HERE to upload your squash videos.
|
|
|
Pro Tips - Ten Tips from Coach Cyrus Poncha |
|
By Cyrus Poncha
1. Hit to a good length
Stroke the ball to the front wall with sufficient judgement to make it bounce at the back of the court behind the service box. The ball should never hit the back wall on the full or fail to hit the back wall, ideally after one bounce and die. Develop it, as a reflex action with practice, by hitting hard below the front wall service line, or soft above the service line. The objective is to confine your opponent to the backcourt, moving him out of the dominating position at the T. |
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Pro Tips - Control Pace of Play Through Routine |
|
By Peter Langmaid
Squash players constantly remind themselves and advise each other to take control of the T—control the T and you control the match. Good advice, to be sure. An equally important, but less obvious, control element in a match is pace of play. If you dictate pace of play—that is, how quickly one point follows another—your chances of success increase. |
|
Read more...
|
|
|
 Renato Paiva
Surf City Squash
Executive Director
This is our concluding newsletter for the 2007-2008 academic year. I'd like to begin by sharing with you one last adventure of Surf City Squash.
|
|
Read more...
|
|
|
High ideals bring pain and joy |
Squash Blog Watch
From Yorkshire Evening Post
Court Side with James Willstrop
I was approached by my fitness trainer, Damon Leedale-Brown, last summer to see whether I would be interested in a training camp at altitude in Colorado in the US and I excitedly obliged, albeit with an air of trepidation.
I had played at altitude once before in Columbia and it was one of the most excruciating experiences I have had to endure on a squash court.
At altitude the density of oxygen particles in the air is less than that at sea level, making hard exercise even harder. |
|
Read more...
|
|
|
World champ confirmed for Forexx Dutch Open |
 Issued by Tommy Berden
World Champion Rachael Grinham has informed tournament director Tommy Berden that she will compete in the Forexx Dutch Open Squash 2008. The confirmation of the 31-year old Australian’s entry means that the biggest Dutch professional squash event in years, which combines a Women’s International Squash Players Association (WISPA) Gold tournament and a Professional Squash Association (PSA) 3 star championship, is now assured of the presence of the three highest ranked female players in the world. |
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Calgary Junior Phenom Ready for the World |
|
Schnell is one of three 16-year-olds on the junior men's national squash team, showing he is not the only young talent, but is one of the most promising squash talents in Calgary. |
|
Read more...
|
|
|
England Squash introduce PAR to all junior sanctioned events |
 England Squash News
By Ben Taylor
England Squash, the National Governing Body for Squash & Racketball, have announced that all junior sanctioned events will be played under a Point-A-Rally (PAR) scoring system from the 2008/9 season onwards, to keep scoring in junior events consistent with the new European Squash Federation PAR-to-11 rules. |
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Perry Powers Into Malaysian Open Draw |
CIMB Malaysian Open Squash Championships
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
By Howard Harding
Ireland's Madeline Perry powered her way into the women's main draw of the CIMB Malaysian Open after despatching Dutch opponent Orla Noom in today's qualifying finals of the $53,500 WISPA World Tour Gold squash event in Kuala Lumpur. |
|
Read more...
|
|
|
THE FIRST WORD - Golf, Tennis, Shark, Pain and Closures |
|
By Alan Thatcher
Contributing Editor
MONEY NO OBJECT AS GOLF TEES UP OLYMPIC BID
Let's start this week with two questions.
First of all, is golf the most boring sport ever invented? And, second, can you name the reigning Olympic tennis champion?
The reason I am mentioning these two sports is that, with world tour's valued in billions of dollars, they dwarf the game of squash.
Tennis is already an Olympic sport. And now golf is aiming to join the IOC roster.
When tennis made its Olympic reappearance, in 1988, hardly any of the game's top stars bothered to enter, making it a totally meaningless sideshow.
It's been that way ever since, so I imagine some shuttle diplomacy has resulted in Roger Federer and Anna Ivanovic topping the seeding lists in Beijing, and brothers Andy and Jamie Murray representing Great Britain.
Tennis has its Grand Slam series of events, the Australian Open, US Open, French Open and Wimbledon, and the prospect of turning out for your country once every four years, for expenses only and dossing in an athletes' village instead of a five-star hotel, is clearly not much of an attraction for most of the top stars. |
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Pro-Scoring Hails New Era For Women's Squash In Kuala Lumpur |
|
 WISPA News
By Howard Harding
The $53,500 CIMB Malaysian Open is making squash history today as the first women's Tour event to use point-a-rally scoring.
The WISPA World Tour Gold championship introduces the first change in scoring from the traditional 'hand-in-hand-out' system - in which a player can only win a point when serving - which has been used since the Women's International Squash Players' Association was formed in 1984. |
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Squash Player Wants Support From NSC |
|
International News - Nigeria
By Adegbolbola Alawode
PM News
A passionate appeal has gone out to the Chairman, National Sports Commission (NSC), Barrister Abdulrahman Gimba, to support squash racket in the country.
Worried about the dwindling fortunes of the game in recent times, squash players in Lagos State have called on Gimba to help revive the sport by organising regular competitions to keep them busy.
|
|
Read more...
|
|
|
U.S. SQUASH To Provide Direct Support Network To Pros |
|
 US Squash News
As a result of ongoing discussions with groups of teaching pros and coaches over the last several years, U.S. SQUASH will officially launch the Squash Professionals Affiliate (SPA) program on July 1, 2008. The program will address the needs expressed to U.S. SQUASH by squash professionals nationwide. |
|
Read more...
|
|
|
US SQUASH Changing Its Game |
|
US Squash News
U.S. Squash announced July 16, 2008 it will adopt a new technology platform this summer. This transition will include implementing a new database system and a new web management system.
Both are expected to dramatically enhance the Association’s communications with its constituents, and services to its members. |
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Squash* |
|
 By Alex Beam
From Vanity Fair
*But weren’t all that interested in asking.
A few years ago, the Boston Red Sox invited Trinity College squash coach Paul Assiante to throw out the first ball at Fenway Park. Assiante was and is the winningest coach in the NCAA’s Division I. After he bounced the baseball in front of the catcher, John Kerry–style, Assiante strode off the field and heard a fan scream: “What the f--- is squash?” |
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Holiday Breaks - Stay in Shape! |
|
 By Tim Bacon, M.A., B.P.H.E. - Smith College
Why practice hard week after week only to lose it all by being a couch potato during a vacation or break from your studies?
|
|
Read more...
|
|
|
England Squash recruiting for Membership Coordinator |
|
By Ben Taylor
Marketing Co-ordinator
England Squash
England Squash is the governing body for the sports of Squash and Racketball in England. We have a long and proud history of being among the nation’s most successful and popular sports.
As part of our drive to create greater participation, profile and success, we have set up a Marketing & Communication Department based at our head office at the National Squash Centre in Sportcity, Manchester. Recent and ongoing activities of the department include a Squash & Racketball Survey, a rebranding of the organisation as well as a website re-launch. |
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Deception - Part Two - Static BioMechanical Changes |
|
By Cliff Wenn
Director of Squash
Cross Courts Squash & Fitness
In my first article on deception, I introduced the concept of deception by establishing a tactical pattern of play & then simply changing that pattern.
|
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Pre-Season Training is for Everybody |
|
When summer arrives it brings out the energy reserves in all of us. You want to go hiking, camping, to the beach. Most people want the beach look – fit, at the right weight, comfortable in a bathing suit. The ‘bar’ look – pot bellied and overweight – is not easy as easy to get rid of as many think. |
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Australia chooses first ever university squash team |
|
By Andrew Dent
Media Liaison Officer
Squash Australia
Deakin University pair Rex Hedrick and Melody Francis will join the University of Queensland’s Nathan Turnbull in the first ever Australian squash team to compete at a World University Squash Championships. |
|
Read more...
|
|
|
THE FIRST WORD - Squash Phrases & Jargon |
|
Squash for the uninitiated: A Beginner's Guide to the rules, phrases and jargon of our crazy sport
By Alan Thatcher
Contributing Editor
Explaining the rules of squash is a bit like trying to describe cricket to an American. It's not easy.
So, next time you meet someone new to squash and they start pumping you with questions about the rules, feel free to make use of this simple glossary of terms.
TRIPLE BAGEL:
Winning 9-0, 9-0, 9-0
NICK:
The point where the floor meets the side wall.
DEAD NICK:
Shot that hits the nick and rolls flat across the floor. Unplayable. Stunning. Spectacular. It's squash's equivalent of a home run, a hole in one at golf or a goal in football. |
|
Read more...
|
|
|
By Tim Dunbar
The Press
Les Milne, a member of the first New Zealand squash team to go overseas and who was a much respected player, administrator, manager, selector and sometime scribe died in Christchurch this week, on his 78th birthday. |
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Press Squash Coverage Pathetic |
|
 Letter to the Editor
By Trevor Brown
Let’s face it – the squash coverage in the main press is pathetic.
You would think that England Squash and event promoters would be bending over backwards to make sure squash got its fair share. |
|
Read more...
|
|
Issued by Howard Harding 
