World Squash Day Breaks Records
World Squash Day is claiming a world record for the biggest sports match in history after more than 40,000 players took part in the World Squash Day Challenge to show support for the sport’s 2020 Olympic bid.
Squash is aiming for a place at the 2020 Olympic Games, in competition with climbing, karate, roller sports, wakeboarding, baseball and softball, and wushu for the single berth.
More than 800 clubs from over 70 nations took part in the event which saw matches take place around the world over the weekend. In South Africa, around 750 youngsters from the inner-city of Johannesburg, townships of Soweto and Alexandra joined the rest of the world in celebrating World Squash Day through their annual Egolisquash Festival.
Elsewhere around the world, one of the biggest events took place at the Tanglin Club in Singapore, where they joined forces with the British Club and Hollandse Club to stage 188 matches, as well as matches in Zimbabwe, China, Canada and across the Caribbean.
World Squash Federation (WSF) chief executive Andrew Shelley said: ‘It was wonderful to see the worldwide squash community come together in one massive match. It clearly illustrated the passion the whole sport has for squash’s Olympic bid, as well as promoting squash at national and local level.’
‘These 2020 figures really illustrate how much players of all abilities care about seeing squash in the Olympic Games.’
