Preliminary Report: A Timely Boost to Squash in New Zealand

Palmerston North's hosting of the Prince 14th world junior men's squash championships will help provide a timely boost to the sport in New Zealand.

Though the exploits of British Open winner Leilani Rorani, and world champion ex-pat Australian Carol Owens in recent years have captured welcome attention New Zealand has had to rely a lot on international doubles success for any squash profile.

Susan Devoy - the famous New Zealand squash ambassador. Photo 2006 © SquashTalk archives.

The Glory Days
The glory days are well and truly back in the 1980s when Susan Devoy was top of the women's game, and Ross Norman and Stuart Davenport were ranked second and third on the men's world rankings behind squash's greatest player, Pakistani Jahangir Khan.

Norman it was who finally ended Jahangir's five-year supremacy at Toulouse in 1986 when he beat him in the world open final. Not surprisingly the game was booming. Clubs were full, players were queueing up to play in tournaments, the New Zealand Open finals were televised live with many of the world's best players involved, and media interest was high.

A More Modest Profile
It is all so different now. Club memberships have shrunk, a lot of clubs are rundown, and the sport has largely slipped below the media radar. New Zealand's highest profile player is women's world No. 13 Shelley Kitchen, and the New Zealand Open, once one of the leading events on the world calendar, has not been played since 1996, and only as a women's tournament from 1993.

Shelley Kitchen - New Zealand's best right now. Photo 2006 © SquashTalk archives.

With the masters (over 35) category tending to dominate at numerous clubs the sport is badly in need of rejuvenation, and the world event over the next fortnight will help that.

The host SquashGym Palmerston North club is a magnificent exception to the apathy at so many others, being at the cutting edge of what a club needs to be in the 21st century to attract members. A dynamic organising committee chaired by Grant Smith has orchestrated an extensive rebuilding, and the result is an eight-court showpiece.
That is by New Zealand standards. It is not in the league of country clubs in the United States but like golf club memberships in New Zealand the fees are structured to be within the compass of most people.

The latter stages of both events will be staged at the Arena Manawatu Stadium where an all-glass court will be erected. The championships start with the individual event from July 17 to 22, and the teams event is from the 23rd to the 28th.

Evan Williams - New Zealand's best hope this year. Photo © 2006 Adam Lyall

The Host City
Palmerston North, which has a population of 78,000, is a city near the west coast in the central North Island, with a proud squash tradition, being one of the early centres of the game in New Zealand. It was the venue for the 1971 world men's championships.

The city is in the heart of farming country, and its Massey University is well respected after starting as an agricultural college. Palmerston is about two hours drive from New Zealand's capital, Wellington. Though it is mid-winter there is unlikely to be any snow, and the courts should still be warm enough to be comfortable to play on.

The legendary 42-year-old Jahangir, who played in New Zealand on a number of occasions, will be present as president of the World Squash Federation as will Devoy. The four-times world champion is the mother of four boys, and very much a New Zealand sporting icon. She was a longtime chairman of the Halberg Trust, which has raised large sums for handicapped children, and conducts the country's premier annual sporting awards ceremony.

Devoy was the chief executive of Sport Bay of Plenty, which encourages sports participation at all ages and healthy living, but is now its chairperson.
How much attention the championships attract outside the squash community will depend on the success of the New Zealand players. Though the No.1 Evan Williams, of Wellington, has been seeded in the nine to 16 bracket New Zealand coach Robbie Wyatt and Williams' personal coach Bruce (Ossie) Osborne, an Australian, would regard anything past the last 32 as some achievement.

Wyatt is taking a longer-term view with Williams and fellow team member Lui Syder eligible for the next championships in Switzerland in 2008.
New Zealand is seeded 12th for the teams event, and might be pushed to better that. The country's performances at world juniors have been distinctly patchy for one with considerable standing in the game, probably because of its isolation, and a lack of emphasis and resources.

It has to go back to the first official world junior championships in Sweden 26 years ago for its best performances. Davenport, who lives in Wellington, and still plays socially, reached the semifinals, still the only Kiwi to do so, and the team of Davenport, John Mills, Dean Lovett and Wayne Rowlands finished third, again New Zealand's best effort.

Ramy Ashour - could be the first-ever repeat World Jr Champion. Photo 2006 © SquashTalk archives.

Highest Profile From Egypt and Pakistan
New Zealand could do no better than 14th when the championships were previously in this country in 1994 in Christchurch, and the effort of seventh in 2004 in Pakistan was its best placing for 12 years.

With New Zealand so desperately short of top-flight squash the appearance of junior world champion Ramy Ashour, of Egypt, is eagerly anticipated, particularly with him poised to be the first player to win the title twice, and carrying a world senior ranking of 20th.

The Egyptians, who are accompanied by a state television crew, and Pakistani Aamir Atlas Khan, the second seed behind Ashour, promise to be in a class of their own but there are bound to be surprises, which can so easily occur at this level.

Others among the 19 countries seeded to figure prominently are England, India, Germany, and Canada, and though Australia is down at No.9, and has no one seeded in the top 16, it can never be discounted.

If nothing else the appearance of Jahangir will create some national television interest, and early indications suggest this will be a slickly run championships.