News that Squash has been shortlisted by the IOC for consideration for the 2020 Olympic Games has been greeted with enthusiasm by the Professional Squash Association, organisers of the flourishing PSA World Tour.
"We are delighted that Squash has been included on the IOC's shortlist again," said PSA CEO Alex Gough. "We have already been working hard on the feedback that we were given by the IOC during the last race for inclusion. We have now filmed Squash in HD and are able to roll this out across all of the World Series events.
"Presentation of events is now World Class and worthy of any Olympic show. The whole squash community will be behind this bid for inclusion as squash's athletes are amongst the fittest and most talented on the planet. Their skills need to be showcased at the 2020 Olympics and that is what we are planning towards."
The World Squash Federation has been leading the bid to have the sport added to the Olympic programme. WSF President N Ramachandran, said: "We are delighted to be given this new opportunity to be considered for inclusion in the Olympic Sports Programme. I am confident that we will be able to show the IOC Programme Commission, the Executive Board and wider IOC membership that our case has become even stronger over recent years.
"I truly believe that Squash would be a great Olympic sport. It fulfils all the criteria for inclusion in the Games, has proven universality and growth and we have an absolute commitment from all our top athletes that an Olympic medal would be the pinnacle of their careers. We also have high-profile world champions, exciting world championships for men and women, massive participation from juniors to masters on all continents and a healthy, thriving programme of youth development worldwide.
"Squash has benefitted from some incredibly exciting technical innovations in recent years, including courts that can be sited in iconic settings such as the Pyramids and New York's Grand Central Station, vastly-improved television coverage in HD with multiple camera positions, and 'super slow-mo' replays. We are not a sport that stands still. All this and the fact that Squash is a wonderful example of one-on-one sporting gladiatorial competition, would make it a perfect addition to the Games.
"Our campaign starts with new energy and vigour as of today and I am delighted that we will have an opportunity to take our message to the whole Olympic and sporting family over the next two years."
The world's leading players, led by Egypt's four-time world champion Amr Shabana, recently pledged their support for the bid for Squash to become an Olympic sport by signing a declaration that An Olympic Gold Medal Would Be The Ultimate Prize In Squash.
The PSA has 500 members from 67 countries. The 2011 PSA World Tour - boasting an anticipated prize-fund of more than three million US dollars - is led by nine PSA World Series events, including the JP Morgan Tournament of Champions in New York, the North American Open in Virginia and the US Open in Philadelphia; the Australian Open in Canberra; the ROWE British Grand Prix in Manchester; the Qatar Classic in Doha; the Hong Kong Open; the Kuwait Open; and the Punj Lloyd PSA Masters in India.