Al-Ahram Weekly | Sports | Squash in the middle

		6 - 12 June 2002 Issue No.589 Sports	Current issue Previous issue Site map
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875		Recommend this page

Squash in the middle
Amid the tension between India and Pakistan lies a squash tournament which may be forced to move. Nashwa Abdel-Tawab examines what the options are

Rising tension between Pakistan and India is having repercussions in squash. The World Squash Federation (WSF) has received numerous queries as to the status of the World Junior Men's Championships, in which Egypt is participating , and which is slated to be held in the Indian city of Chennai from 13-24 August.
The WSF is advising its member nations that there are no plans to move the championships from India, at least for now.
"The WSF is currently receiving queries on the status of the championships from its members. It has also received a request from Pakistan to give consideration to moving the event from Chennai in view of the current tension between India and Pakistan," WSF Chief Executive Ted Wallbutton said.
"The WSF's position is that we are keeping a close watch on the situation and are in constant contact with the organisers in India. We will be monitoring activity over the next few weeks and making a final decision on the venue for the championships in due time.
"At the moment we have no plan to move the championships from India," Wallbutton added. "We are confident that, even though there is tension between Pakistan and India, Chennai is so far from Pakistan that it should be well away from any danger zone." He said that since the city was more than 2,500 kilometres from the Pakistani border, "At the moment there is absolutely no danger involved in visiting southeast India.
"We also have every confidence in the Indian Squash Federation and Secretary-General Ramachandran to ensure that security is of the highest level."
Ramachandran has guaranteed that adequate security will be provided to any team, or if necessary to all teams, visiting Chennai. He suggests that all WSF member nations wait for a few weeks to observe developments and then check with their national High Commission in Delhi to take their advice on travel to Chennai.
"Currently no nation has withdrawn from the championships," Wallbutton stressed. "You can be assured that the focus of the WSF will always be on ensuring the safety of young squash players and we will make contact with all WSF member nations as soon as any definite information is available."
Meanwhile, in a relatively unchanged list, England's world champion Peter Nicol, far right, begins his sixth successive month as world No 1 in the new June Dunlop PSA Men's World Rankings. Australia's David Palmer came second followed by Canada's Jonathon Power at No 3. Egypt's Amr Shabana stayed at 18 and compatriot Karim Darwish at 20.
The women's list saw few change. Australia's Sarah Fitz-Gerald strengthened her position at No 1. Fitz-Gerald, right, the four-time world champion from Melbourne, impressively swept to victory in the four Women's International Squash Players' Association (WISPA) World Tour events in the US this month. Her straight games victory over New Zealand's world No 2 Carol Owens in last week's Seattle Open final brought Fitz-Gerald's career total to 57 titles, equalling the record of her now-retired compatriot Michelle Martin. The in-form Australian, unbeaten in 47 straight matches, will create a new record if she successfully defends her Australian Open title in Adelaide at the end of June.
Egypt's 16-year-old Omneya Abdel-Qawi was the only Egyptian woman to be among the top 20, moving from 20 to 19.

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