Squash Delighted By Tokyo 2020 Announcement by Howard Harding 22 June 2015
- After the disappointment of missing out on a place on the programme
for the 2020 Olympic Games at the IOC Congress in Buenos Aires in 2013,
the opportunity for Squash to present its case again after the Tokyo
2020 Organising Committee were offered the chance to nominate sports
has been grabbed with both hands by the World Squash Federation.
Today's announcement by the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee that Squash
is one of eight sports shortlisted - from which a final recommendation
will be made to the IOC in September - has been warmly welcomed.
"We are confident that Squash would bring something special to the
Programme of the Olympic Games," said WSF President N Ramachandran on
behalf of players in the 185 countries in which the sport is played.
"Squash is a fine gladiatorial sport played all over the world and
featuring great athleticism, competition and broadcast output.
"We are very grateful to the Tokyo 2020 Additional Event Programme
Panel for including us in the shortlist from which nominations to the
IOC will be made.
"There is a long and strong squash tradition in Japan, with the
Japanese Squash Association closing in on its fiftieth anniversary,"
Ramachandran added. "Tokyo hosted some of the biggest professional
events in the world a little while ago and now has great juniors such
as Satomi Watanabe and Ryunosuke Tsukue who are doing so well at world
level.
"The Olympic Games in 2020 would be perfect timing for them!"
