Speed Thrills In World Squash Day Success by Howard Harding 22 October 2014
- World Squash Day 2014 was a resounding success, with thousands of
players taking part in challenging and creative events all over the
planet.
In a trans-Atlantic
speed challenge, Australia's world No.22 Cameron Pilley attempted to
improve on his world record of 176mph during a competition at the US
Open in Philadelphia.
This time his feared
forehand was slightly off his best as he registered 163mph in a
head-to-head with former world record holder John White, head coach at
Drexel University, which hosted the Delaware Investments US Open
Championships.
England's world No.14 Sarah-Jane Perry recorded 144mph, which sets a benchmark for future women's challenges.
In England, Team
Winchester squad member Steve Wykes outgunned the top pros by recording
an impressive 168mph during a World Squash Day doubles tournament at
The Mote Squash Club in Maidstone, Kent.
Two English squash
enthusiasts, James Roberts and Mark Davey, completed a magnificent
marathon by playing seven matches at seven local clubs in the space of
seven hours, finishing up at their home club of Lichfield in
Staffordshire.
In Australia, squash
players gathered for a rally outside Parliament House in Canberra
before dispersing to open-day events at clubs across the city.
In Poland and India,
new media was embraced as players were encouraged to upload "squash
selfies" and Tweet the reasons why they loved squash so much.
Across the globe,
reports emerged of numerous fun events to promote the game, including
fancy dress doubles, thousands of free lessons for juniors, and coaches
cycling from club to club to offer free classes.
Numerous clubs simply
opened their doors to hold open days to show that squash is one of the
best sports for all-round fitness, with an hour of activity on the
court burning around 900 calories.
World Squash Day
founder Alan Thatcher was delighted with the response. He said: "I have
been inundated with reports of clubs and federations staging some
amazing events to promote the sport.
"Squash is on a real
high at the moment, with some fantastic presentation of the sport in
the Commonwealth Games, Pan-American Games and the Asian Games.
"It was wonderful for
World Squash Day to be featured so prominently during one of the
world's leading tournaments, the US Open, and we are already looking at
some novel ideas for next year."
