WSF Ambassadors Set To Put Dalian On Squash Map by Howard Harding
18 June 2016
- The legacy of a three-day WSF Ambassador Programme visit to the
Liaoning Province in China will be to put the city of Dalian on the
international Squash map, according to the Dalian Squash Association
Secretary General Wang Guo Guang.
Led by Malaysia's world
No.5 Low Wee Wern and the four-time Hong Kong national champion Dick
Lau - and including Asian Federation Regional Referee Robert Arrffan,
from Singapore, and Dick Leung, the Assistant Head Coach at Hong Kong
Squash - the World Squash Federation team was hosted by the Dalian
Squash Association in conjunction with the Chinese Squash Association.
Launched
in 2011, the inspired WSF international promotional initiative annually
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.
The first day's schedule
included a visit to the city's Xigang Stadium, a six-floor sports
centre which has a single floor devoted to squash - featuring the
world's only single location boasting four all-glass courts!
Later,
a press conference was held at the new Olympia 66, the largest Shopping
Mall in the region in which an all-glass showcourt has pride of place
on the sixth floor.
It was at this event, jointly hosted by
the Dalian Sports Federation, that the city revealed its bid to become
the first in China to stage a world squash championship by announcing a
tender for the 2018 WSF Women's World Team Squash Championship.
Fu
Wei Dong, Secretary General of the Dalian Sports Federation, welcomed
guests to the press conference, highlighting the fact that Dalian is
noted for its success in sport, with four players from the city in the
China men's national football team and six in the women's team.
Lu
Zhijun, President of the Dalian Squash Association, thanked the city
for backing the association: "We are grateful to the government for
their support of squash. Dalian has established a strong reputation for
sports - like running and football - but in a few years we hope it will
be for squash.
"Places like Beijing and Shanghai are too
big, with too much going on - squash can better be developed in our
country from a city like Dalian.
"After seeing how events
like the Hong Kong Open can be presented, we hope that Dalian will host
more tournaments of a similar style."
(Pictured at the
Olympia 66 Press Conference (L to R): Dick Leung, Robert Arrffan, Low
Wee Wern, Tony Choi, Andrew Shelley, Chinese Squash Association Vice
President Huang Kai, Olympia 66 Deputy General Manager Sean Ang, Dick
Lau & Wang Guo Guang)
Hong Kong Squash Head Coach Tony
Choi praised the WSF initiative for coming to China to raise the
profile for squash and highlighted the sport's suitability for the
country with China already successful in other rackets sports whilst
fellow Asian countries are also successful in squash. "I am confident
that a squash champion will soon come from China."
The WSF
Ambassadors were later invited to the Dalian Jiahui Foreign Nationals
School, an international primary and secondary school which boasts
1,600 pupils where an inspiring and unique partnership with the Dalian
Squash Association was unveiled.
In conjunction with plans
to build a new sports centre including an all-glass squash court, the
school announced the inauguration of the Jiahui Education Group Squash
Training Base.
(WSF Ambassadors Shelley, Low and Lau at the
Dalian Jiahui School, flanked by Dalian Jiahui Education Development
Company President Assistant Gao Shan (left) and fellow President
Assistant Li Hailong (right))
"This base not only lays a
solid foundation for future development and growth of youth squash
training but also has its significance in reflecting the idea of
quality-orientated education consistently proposed by the Jiahui
Education Group," said Gao Shan, President Assistant of the Dalian
Jiahui Education Development Company.
"Squash is a very
suitable sport for adolescents," Li continued. "It has become a part of
people's healthy lifestyle and it will demonstrate its vitality in a
broader sports arena."
In response, WSF Chief Executive
Andrew Shelley commented: "The youth of Dalian will become the future
backbone of players of squash in China, and the development work of
Dalian Jiahui, coupled with Dalian Squash, to promote the game and add
new facilities make this a very exciting era for squash here.
"Of
course the possibility of bringing a WSF World Championship here too in
2018 will provide even greater impetus for Dalian, and a wonderful
opportunity for players around the world to see this great city and
squash passion for themselves."
(Dalian Jiahui pupils
attempt to teach Andrew Shelley the ancient art of Chinese water
painting, overlooked by Arrffan, Low and Lau)
Some 30
youngsters from the Jiahui school enjoyed a session with Low Wee Wern
and Dick Lau at the Xigang Stadium, while benefiting from coaching from
Dick Leung
(Dalian Jiahui pupils after a session at Xigang Stadium with the WSF Ambassadors)
In
summing up the success of the WSF Ambassador visit, Dalian Squash
Association Secretary General Wang Guo Guang said: "This visit will
help people know about squash - it will help the development of the
sport here in Dalian and help attract more media support. We have never
had as much media coverage for squash as we have had during this visit.
There has been a lot of interest - especially on the internet and
through social media, all over China.
(Pictured at the
farewell dinner in Dalian (L to R): Dalian Squash Association President
Lu Zhijun, Andrew Shelley, Wang Guo Guang & Dalian Squash
Association Vice-President Zhang Yongpeng)
"We hope that the
success we achieve here for squash in Dalian can be spread throughout
the country. We want Dalian to become the squash capital of China.
"We
have always had a good relationship with the Chinese Squash Association
- but we are now working together even more closely. We hope that this
visit has shown the national association that we have the ability to
run successful squash programmes here.
"The opportunity for
our top national players to play top international players - like the
Chinese No.2 woman Gu Jinyue who played Low Wee Wern - has been
excellent. But whilst the current players have too big a gap in
standard to overcome, I believe that it is the next generation of
players who will ultimately benefit from this experience in order to
compete at international level, but we need to attract top coaches from
overseas.
"We want to get backing from the national association to be the home for junior development in China.
"This
visit has opened our eyes to what we have to achieve - but I have the
confidence that we can do it, with players, coaches and referees.
"In
three or five years' time, I hope we will have shown what we can do
after hosting the Asian Masters and the Women's World Team
Championships - and we aim to keep the momentum going by hosting more
international events.
"We want to put Dalian on the international squash map - and the reward for this will be more government support."
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, Papua New Guinea in 2014,
before focussing on the Balkan region last year with appearances in
Serbia, Romania and Croatia.
