By David Pritchard
World-class squash is coming to the county his summer with the inaugural Kent Open, which organisers hope will stimulate a surge in interest for the sport.
The five-day ranking tournament in June will be part of the Professional Squash Association (PSA)’s World Tour calendar. A high quality field is expected for the event, to be held at The Mote Squash Club in Maidstone.
It follows the success of The Mote Classic, an invitational event held as a warm-up event last summer. Alan Thatcher, chairman of the Kent Squash and Racketball Association, is excited by the prospect of staging a world-ranking event.
He said: “It was always our intention to host a world-ranking event and that’s what we’ve managed to achieve. I guess it’s the culmination of several years’ hard work to put a professional tournament together.”
A delighted David Verga, chairman at The Mote Squash Club, said: “It’s nice because it’s been a lean period for squash with clubs closing down. Putting on an event like this puts Kent back on the map.”
A key aim of the event is to stimulate the grassroots game in Kent. Alongside the tournament will be the Kent Squash Festival, which will take place in the three months leading up to the Open. It will consist of coaching schemes and competitions for young players, with the final held alongside the Open.
Thatcher said: “We want a major legacy for squash in the county. The tournament and festival are linked, we want to make it so the kids can be really fired up. The junior development programme will snowball once the tournament is in place and you’ll suddenly find lots of talented players.”
England Squash have played a role in setting up both events, particularly plans for the festival, which has been spearheaded by development coach Steve Franks. Although the initiatives in schools are aimed at younger age groups, plans are expected to be confirmed soon which will expand it to 16-19 year-olds.
Paul Fennell, England Squash’s regional manager for London, which includes Kent, believes it is a big opportunity to spark interest in squash among people who may have never played before.
He said: “Our job is around increasing participation in the sport. It’s really import we can work together with a big high profile event like this and involve the community. You can do one without the other but bringing them together makes it a much more rounded event.”
It is hoped the Kent Open will become an annual fixture on the PSA World Tour, with plans to hold the closing stages of future tournaments in a glass court in the neighbouring leisure centre. The move would increase the capacity for spectators and expand the potential for television coverage.
This year’s event will be held on June 2-6.
POSTED: 08/02/2010 08:00:00
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