By ALAN THATCHER – Squash Mad Editor
The world of squash celebrated today as tickets went on sale for the 2021 Canary Wharf Classic.
London’s most popular tournament, postponed in March, is back on the PSA calendar with action taking place at the stunning East Wintergarden between November 14-19.
The PSA World Tour Gold tournament starts with eight first round matches on Super Sunday (November 14) with six days of world-class squash culminating in the traditional Friday-night final as the sport’s leading male squash stars battle at one of the most popular destinations on the Tour.
Tournament Director Tim Garner said: “It’s a wonderful feeling to announce that the competition is finally taking place after being postponed in March because of the pandemic.
“It’s a mixture of joy and relief to know that we can stage the event in front of an audience again because the atmosphere generated by the fans at the East Wintergarden is one of the key ingredients in the tournament’s ongoing success. This will be our 18th edition at Canary Wharf and for most of those years we have enjoyed sell-out crowds every day.
“We know how much the players and spectators enjoy the experience of competing and watching at the East Wintergarden. As organisers, we enjoy working with the staff at Canary Wharf Group and the East Wintergarden team to deliver a quality tournament, so it feels very special to be coming back as the world hopefully gets back to normal after such a challenging time.”
The 2020 Canary Wharf Classic was the last men’s PSA World Tour event to take place before the six-month suspension of the PSA Tour due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and fans were treated to an epic battle as Mohamed ElShorbagy beat fellow Egyptian Ali Farag in the final.
The two players met again in the recent PSA World Championship final in Chicago and this time it was Farag’s turn to triumph.
The two players enjoy a compelling rivalry at the top of the PSA World Rankings, and Garner is looking forward to their return to Docklands.
He said: “Something very special happened on that night of the 2020 final. Both players knew the enormity of the occasion and were determined to put on a match to remember in the final. We were all entering a period of uncertainty and that match gave everyone in the squash community something special to hang on to.
“Now we look forward to another very special occasion in November, and I am sure it will be an emotional return for all concerned.”
Action from the Canary Wharf Squash Classic will be shown live worldwide on SQUASHTV. The semi-finals and finals will also be shown live on the channels of contracted broadcast partners.
Ticket sales
Tickets are available for purchase here.
Tournament website here
Pictures courtesy of PSA