New Zealand To Host 2017 WSF World Junior Championships by Howard Harding 11 March 2016
- 28 years after staging the third edition of the biennial event in
1989, New Zealand will host the 17th WSF Women's World Junior Team
Squash Championship in Tauranga in July next year.
The 2017
World Squash Federation event, which will also feature the Men's &
Women's World Junior Individual Championships, will take place at Devoy
Squash & Fitness Centre in Tauranga, the fifth largest city in New
Zealand, from 19-28 July.
"It is with great pleasure that
Squash New Zealand will once again host another major international
squash event in the city of Tauranga," said Squash NZ CEO Jim O'Grady.
"Attracting the very best athletes from around the world, the World
Junior Championships will create huge opportunities to market and
promote Tauranga to a worldwide audience and at the same time boost the
profile of squash in New Zealand and the Oceania region."
Wayne
Werder, Chair of the Organising Committee (pictured above), added: "The
organising committee are absolutely delighted to have been granted the
hosting rights for the 2017 World Junior Women's Championships.
Tauranga is willing, able and excited by the opportunity to host this
event, and are looking forward to welcoming the world's best juniors to
New Zealand."
Two former world champions and NZ squash
legends have a strong affiliation with Tauranga: Dame Susan Devoy, the
former world number one and four-time world champion, said: "As a
resident of Tauranga for many years now, I am delighted that Tauranga
has been granted the rights to host this event. Squash is thriving here
in Tauranga with great facilities, passionate volunteers, and a number
of experienced past international players who know what is required to
host an event of this scale."
Ross Norman, world champion in
1986 (pictured above alongside Dame Devoy with the iconic Mt Maunganui
in the background), added: "Tauranga is a city that is close to my
heart, and one that I visit regularly when I am back in New Zealand.
The Championships are an important stepping stone for up and coming
players before they take on the senior ranks, and also an event where
friendships are made for life. It is fantastic to see Tauranga named as
the host of the 2017 World Junior Championships."
Unbeaten
since 2005, Egypt will no doubt be looking to extend their record five
successive championship triumphs in New Zealand after clinching the
title for the fifth time in a row - and seventh time overall - in 2015
in the Netherlands.
