Paris Welcomes Women's World Championship Teams by Howard Harding
photos WSF
28 November 2016 -
In his first duty as the newly-elected President of the World Squash
Federation at the Opening Ceremony for the 2016 WSF Women's World Team
Squash Championship, Frenchman Jacques Fontaine welcomed players and
officials to the event which is being held in the French capital Paris
for the first time.
It was as President of the Fédération Française de Squash that Fontaine
attracted the event to France for the second time in four years. It
will take place at Jeu De Paume and St Cloud Squash clubs, with final
stages being held on an all-glass court at the Palais Des Sports Robert
Charpentier in Issy-les-Moulineaux.
At the Opening Ceremony at Palais Des Sports, Fontaine (pictured above,
second from right, with the French team and dignitaries) addressed
players representing 17 nations - including 17 from the world top 20 -
telling them that "women will play a leading part in our future bid for
participation in the Olympic Games".
Bernard De Carrere, the Deputy Mayor of Issy-les-Moulineaux who has
responsibility for sport in the town, also welcomed the participants -
alongside Jean Denis Barbet, President of the Ile de France League; and
Dominique Fontanon, Vice President of the Fédération Française de
Squash.
Nations competing in Paris are Australia, Austria, Canada, Egypt,
England, France, Germany, Hong Kong China, India, Japan, Malaysia,
Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, USA and Wales - all pictured
above.
