Qatar To Host 2012 PSA World Championship by Howard Harding
17 April 2012-
The 2012 PSA World Squash Championship will be held in Doha in
December, following an agreement reached between the Professional
Squash Association and the Qatar Squash Federation.
The $300,000 event, the second richest in
the sport's history, will take place at the Qatari capital's Khalifa
International Tennis & Squash Complex from 7-14 December.
Qatar will be hosting the event formerly
known as the 'World Open' for the third time, having previously staged
the premier championship on the PSA World Tour in 1998 and 2004.
"We are delighted to be able to confirm
that Qatar will host the 2012 PSA World Championship," said PSA Chief
Operating Officer Lee Beachill. "We have been in discussions with the
Qatar Squash Federation for several months and it was the event dates
that took some extra time to confirm - but we are thrilled to finally
confirm that our flagship event will once again be going to Qatar.
"QSF have been a huge support to PSA over
many years, hosting smaller Challenger events as well as their annual
World Series event, the Qatar Classic," added former world number one
Beachill. "We would like to thank Nabeil Ali Bin Ali and his team for
their continued enthusiasm and vision and we are confident that this
year's PSA World Championship will be a spectacular occasion."
On the issue of the event's title change,
Beachill explained: "The winner is the World Champion - so we decided
to drop 'Open' and replace it with 'Championship' for clarity. Most
other sports also have a world championship - we feel it's much more
understandable."
England's Nick Matthew is the reigning PSA
World Champion after becoming the first player for 15 years to
successfully defend the title last November in Rotterdam.