Nicol David & Borja Golan Lead Squash Push Into Romania by Howard Harding
26 May 2015
- Squash is on the verge of a 'massive boost' in Romania according to
TV news anchor man Valentin Butnaru following the 2015 WSF Ambassador
Programme visit to the country's capital Bucharest.
Malaysia's world No.1 Nicol David and Spain's highest-ranked squash
player of all-time Borja Golan led the latest World Squash Federation
initiative in the second leg of a week-long trip which kicked off in
Serbia and will also take in Croatia.
Launched four years ago, the ongoing WSF international promotional
project takes two leading squash players, together with an
international coach and referee, into younger squash nations to help
raise the sport's profile - through clinics, exhibition matches,
refereeing and coaching seminars, and media presentations.
"Squash saved my life," said Butnaru, who co-hosts the breakfast news
programme on Antena 1 TV in Romania - and took up the sport after
extensive surgery on his left arm following a major road accident.
"If I had known about squash earlier, I would have taken it up ages
ago," added the Romanian TV star who now plays squash for around two
hours a day, seven days a week, and also coaches the sport.
"I feel that squash is going to have a massive boom here in Romania. I
have trained lots of women over recent years - and not one has given up
the sport!"
Romanian sports icon Bogdan Stelea, the goalkeeper who played almost
100 times for Romania and represented the nation in three World Cups
and two European Championships, is also a fan of squash.
"Squash complements football well - whenever I had free time, I used to
play squash," Stelea (pictured above with David & Golan) told media
attending a press conference hosted by the Stejarii Country Club. "You
use your hands and your legs - it's a very reactive sport."
Stelea, who spent much of his career in Spain, mainly with Salamanca,
played an exhibition match with Nicol David on one of the courts at the
recently-opened country club owned by former international tennis star
Ion Țiriac.
AeroSquash, boasting five courts and owned by inspirational Costas
Bogdan (pictured above, left, with David, Golan, club manager Emil
Anghel & WSF CEO Andrew Shelley), is currently the biggest club in
Bucharest - but a new facility in the city is due to open in June. The
Infinity Sports Arena, owned by Romanian businessman Abbas Tawil, will
also feature five glass-back courts and be the new base for the
Romanian Squash Federation.
"Infinity will host the European Division 3 Team Championship in 2016,"
said Federation President George Constantinescu. "This will be our
first international championship - and we are very excited by this.
"Abbas Tawil (pictured above, right, with Constantinescu) is a great
supporter of squash in Romania - he is the Honorary President of the
Federation - and without his help it would be impossible for us to grow
the sport in our country."
While David and Golan played a series of matches at Stejarii,
refereeing and coaching seminars attracted candidates from all over the
country, as well as from neighbouring Bulgaria.
"To run refereeing and coaching programmes together like this in this
part of the world is great," said WSF Refereeing Committee Director Roy
Gingell. "There was a refereeing course staged in this region just
before the recent Balkan championships - and this was a natural follow
on from that.
"The course here attracted a great deal of interest - the federation
here has a good plan for referees and will need at least 10 for the
European Championships here next year.
"We will bring in assessors and I will offer them all possible support and guidance."
Ronny Vlassaks (pictured above, left, with Gingell) directed the
coaching workshop in Bucharest. "I had a good group of very keen
coaches - the message I was trying to convey is that squash is not just
about hitting the ball, but playing the game," explained the Belgian
and Dutch National coach.
"It's not only about technique, but other aspects of the game like movement, tactics, the physical and mental approach.
"I am sure the people we had will go away with a new vision of the game
and bring a more professional approach to their coaching - they were so
keen to learn more."
The climax to the trip was a visit to AeroSquash, where the party were
warmly greeted by a large group of enthusiastic fans who had come from
far and wide to see the international squash stars (pictured above in
the club's helicopter!).
A group of juniors, led by coach Bara Hunor, made the five-hour journey
from Sfântu Gheorghe - and were thrilled to have the opportunity to
share the court with David and Golan.
"My kids (pictured above) were so excited to be here," said Bara. "We
are organising a summer camp for these youngsters up in the mountains
in the summer and they will be so motivated by this."
Romanian prospect Vasile Hapun played a match with Golan and was
overwhelmed by the opportunity. "It was really an honour for me to play
with Borja," said the 19-year-old who hails from Chișinău in the
Republic of Moldova and will join the Professional Squash Association
in September.
"I am very proud that I played so well tonight against such a great
player - I now know that I can play well," added Hapun. "I will train
hard through the summer and then hope to be the first Romanian to earn
ranking points on the PSA Tour."
Federation Honorary President Abbas Tawil was delighted with the event
at AeroSquash: "It's been so good for our juniors. They will remember
this days for many years and will want to be like Nicol and Borja - it
will inspire them."
In summing up the value of the WSF visit to Romania, President
Constantinescu said: "It was a great honour to host you - we were all
so surprised at how generous Nicol and Borja were to our players.
"I had a call from one of my students, 13-year-old Bogdan Vasile, after
the AreoSquash visit and he said to me 'coach, yesterday was the
happiest day of my life - I never thought I would have the chance to
play with a world number one'!
"I hope this visit will be the push for junior squash in Romania,"
continued Constantinescu. "In five years' time, I hope we will have
more than 200 juniors around the country - a new generation of players
competing in European and World championships.
"It's good to have formed a closer relationship with the World
Federation in this way - we don't want to 'reinvent the wheel' in what
we do to promote squash here and we look forward to the help the WSF
can give us in developing juniors, finding good coaches, etc.
"We are optimistic that Vasile Hapun (pictured above with Golan) will
make a successful move from junior to senior squash - but it will be
hard for him and we grateful to the support that Abbas Tawil is
providing. Vasile is the 'engine' for us - to show people in Romania
how to play squash!"
The WSF Ambassador Programme first visited the Baltic country of Latvia
in 2011, followed by a trip to the African countries of Malawi and
Namibia, then Panama and Venezuela in 2013, before last year journeying
to Papua New Guinea.
