Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Squash fans’ second chance to bid for a piece of squash history

World Squash Day Auction Part 2 raising funds for squash charities
By JAMES ROBERTS – Squash Mad Correspondent

After the success of the 2021 World Squash Day Auction, which took place in the week after World Squash Day in October, a second phase has been launched to raise further funds for two squash charities

The World Squash Day Auction has become an annual event around World Squash Day since it first took place in 2015 to raise funds for the official World Squash Day charity at the time, Unicef. Since then, it has raised funds for several squash related causes, partnering for the past 2 years with the PSA Foundation and World Squash Library.

The auction is currently taking place on eBay and yet again includes some highly unique and collectable signed squash memorabilia, including current PSA World Tour stars and past greats of the game.

Star lot in Part 1 of the World Squash Day Auction – a World Squash Day shirt signed by the top PSA World Tour players.

The initial Auction raised £655, with proceeds split evenly between the PSA Foundation and the World Squash Library. Star performing lots in this Auction were a World Squash Day shirt signed by the players at the NetSuite Open in San Francisco, which raised £123. Close behind was a British Open 2021 poster signed by all the players taking part in the main draw, which raised £117.

The lots in this second phase of the Auction are equally collectable and are as follows:

Lot 1: Behind the Glass book, signed by Joelle King, Joshna Chinappa, Saurav Ghosal and Mohammed El Shorbagy

Lot 2: Laura Massaro signed England shirt.

Lot 3: Daryl Selby signed shirt & goggles.

Lot 4: Canary Wharf ball signed by the finalists, Paul Coll and Ali Farag.

Lot 5: Canary Wharf ball signed by Mostafa Asal.

Lot 6: 2020 WSF Olympic Bid Book signed by Nicol David & Ramy Ashour.

Lot 7: 1992 British Open Programme signed by all the main contender players, including eventual winners Jansher Khan and Susan Devoy.

The Auction started on Sunday 28th November and is running for 7 days, so will finish on Sunday 5th December, with lot ending times between 20:00 to 20:45 GMT.

Anyone interested in placing a bid can access a full list of the lots on eBay here. You can also follow the progress of the Auction via dedicated Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Andrew Shelley, former CEO of the World Squash Federation and the founder of World Squash Library, commented, “World Squash Library’s mission is to ensure that the rich history of our sport is not only freely available now for anybody looking for information, but is also preserved for future generations too.

“This is from the already huge and growing trove of information, featuring the books written on squash going back a century, articles going back further still, handbooks, magazines, documents and major event programmes. A photo collection, and DVDs / VHS cassettes collected too.

“The Library is a not-for-profit and reliant upon donations to operate – so the World Squash Day auction plays a significant role, and the funds raised are gratefully received.”

Pictures courtesy of James Roberts / World Squash Library / PSA Foundation  

 

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