Dubai Show Night Features All-Glass Showcourt by Howard Harding 24 June 2013
- A spectacular glass-court squash show night launches the 2013 Dubai
Summer Sport Festival at the Dubai World Trade Center next month.
The four-sided glass court, donated by
Courtwall (pictured below), will be used throughout July and August for
a non-stop series of local tournaments, company events, junior training
and open days.
The aim is to attract new participants to a
sport recognised worldwide as being the best for fitness, and one which
is bidding for inclusion in the 2020 Olympic Games.
Squash is already a popular sport in the
region, with major events being regularly staged in Kuwait, Qatar and
Saudi Arabia; and with the Asian Junior Championships being held in the
Jordan capital Amman from 25-29 June.
The opening gala event on July 4, the Dubai
Squash Show Night, features an exhibition match between high-flying
Egyptian brothers Mohamed and Marwan Elshorbagy.
The pair from Alexandria are both double
World Junior champions: 22-year-old Mohamed in 2008 and 2009 and
19-year-old Marwan in 2010 and 2011. Mohamed has climbed to number five
in the PSA world rankings, with Marwan currently at 28.
Courtwall International, one of the world's
leading racket court construction companies, hopes the exposure
generated in Dubai will help to grow the sport locally as well as raise
the profile of squash as it campaigns for a place in the 2020 Olympic
Games.
"Mohamed and Marwan both have the ability
to be future world champions and at their respective ages they could
conceivably be playing each other in a 2020 Olympic final if squash
wins the vote it deserves in September," commented founder Wolfgang
Denk.
"We are happy to act as sponsors of this
event supported by DuPlays, and hope that this plays a part in the
continuing growth of squash in the region."
