Tuesday, March 19, 2024

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No Commonwealth Games? Squash should lead racket sports World Cup

“Out of time?” rang out The Guardian’s headline. The Commonwealth Games 'are coming to an end' was the top line in a recent BBC story. “The event that no...

Squash at LA 2028: The road to Olympics debut

With a little over four years to go until squash makes its entrance at Los Angeles 2028 Olympics, work has already started on how...

Essay: The power, precision and perplexity of squash

Hector Cappelletti normally writes about cricket, but here he visited St George's Hill to watch the then Channel VAS Championship. For a sport to reach...

Why play squash? Here’s a welcome for all new players 

In a recent Squash Mad article, Mike Dale rightly worried about “the decay of our sport at participation level', writes Dan Regan. Even squash writing...

Right Ball campaign: Clubs need to provide best experience for returning players

Dayne Far writes on the right squash ball conundrum from a New Zealander's perspective In New Zealand, we use a range of balls for both...

Sarah-Jane Perry: To say you are a squash Olympian would be incredible

I never thought I would see Olympic inclusion during my playing career. It’s great to have validation, even though we all know squash is...

Squash and the Olympics: It’s hard to fathom it took 40 years

In the late 80’s, the US leadership of squash was being politically pressured to pursue Olympic affiliation, writes Bob Kingsley. They did begrudgingly so, in order...

Five ways Olympic inclusion will change squash

"When I heard the news, I cried," England's top junior Asia Harris told Squash Mad recently of the moment she found out about squash's...

Joey Barrington: My five-point plan to improve England Squash

We recently sat down with Joey Barrington for his first interview in his new role at England Squash. Here, he outlines ways the sport...

England Squash: The right ball is absolutely essential

England Squash has backed our Right Ball campaign as “absolutely essential”, with the national governing body saying that the whole squash community needs to...

What has US college squash scene got that demands our attention?

BIG READ: Sean Choi, of the Rally Report Podcast, looks at state of play in the US across players, competitions and clubs  It's no secret...

5 tips to save Premier Squash League

With the Premier Squash League in limbo, former PSL manager Danny Lee speaks to RJ Mitchell on how to resurrect the sport’s oldest league 1:...

A glimpse into LA 2028 Olympics future for Team USA

October proved to be a historic month for the squash community, especially for US Squash, with the exhilarating announcement of squash's inclusion in the...

Squash v tennis World No.1 duel: Who would take the points?

‘Who is the best squash player of all time?’ It's the age old question hopefully still doing the rounds in club bars. Jahangir Khan...

Squash is an Olympic sport: Looking back and forwards to LA 2028 inclusion

It’s been a week -- and what a week it was -- since squash landed the ultimate vote and a place at the Olympic...

How squash sealed its place in the LA 2028 Olympic Games

The astonishing news that squash will be on the programme at the 2028 Olympic Games is the result of some brilliantly shrewd manouevring –...

LA 2028 reaction: ‘One of the most significant moments in squash’s history’

The squash community is waking up in a state of euphoric disbelief after Monday’s stunning news that our sport is on a list of...

LA Olympics 2028: Squash is celebrating, but wary of VAR!

Having absorbed Monday’s shock news that squash is on the list for the 2028 Olympic Games, I feel a bit like when a goal...

How PSA can take squash to the next level

England star on where investment from Mark Walter can take the PSA and squash as a whole Now that we've had time to take in...

Right Ball Campaign: Why squash traditionalism is holding back our sport

We push squash as an incredible work out -- which the sport most definitely is when you are playing with the right ball against...

Squash has a great product to sell, but who is doing the advertising?

In a reproduced archive piece, Eduardo Alvarez asks where have all the squash ads gone? Who is advertising squash these days? We all know the conversations...

‘More bounce’: Squash Mad launches Right Ball campaign

Squash observers say that the double yellow dot is “killing large parts of the game” and new players are being put off from continuing...

Nick Matthew: My five to watch on PSA World Squash Tour

The season-opening Paris Squash Open gave us two predictable sets of finalists, so as we enter the Qatar Q-Terminals Classic next week and get...

Squash ball boxes should carry a warning- the double dot is killing the game

The slavish choice of using a double dot ball for every standard of play has gone on for far too long. Coaches like myself, Nick...

British Nationals showed changing of guard in women’s squash

It may seem strange to suggest that a successful defence of a title amounts to a changing of the guard, but that is in...

How a double yellow dot ball left one father and son deflated

OPINION -- This is my mate Ady and his son Matthew pictured below. Along with my own lad Finlay, we go to watch Southampton...

Let’s tidy up the rules on lets and strokes

Now, I know this may be controversial. But I am just going to come straight out with it. The rules on strokes and lets...

No one likes missing the season start in any sport, how will Asal cope?

While Mostafa Asal has twice returned to the fray after bans, fuelled by a sense of injustice or persecution, to reclaim his rightful place...

Why the Commonwealth Games must survive – for squash’s sake

It is one year since Georgina Kennedy and Paul Coll had Commonwealth Games gold medals carefully placed around their necks amidst scenes at Birmingham...

Hamza Khan victory is a great squash story – now he needs the support

First the British Junior Open under-15 title, then came a US Open junior under-19 victory. His world junior boy’s title at the weekend completed...

Danny Massaro: Dream Power will help you reach your targets

By DANNY MASSARO - Squash Mad Columnist How many times have we heard a successful sportsman or woman celebrate a major achievement by uttering these...

Why Ramy Ashour’s Story is Yours Too

There are two names that someone even remotely interested in squash can’t help but hear: Jansher Khan and Ramy Ashour. While the duo of...

‘Older he got, better he became’: Masters pay tribute to Mark Cowley

The squash world has paid tribute to distinguished player and Masters advocate Mark Cowley who died recently after a long battle with Covid and...

Can Mostafa Asal’s new coach calm Egyptian squash star?

It is, of course, early days in their new player-coach partnership, but recent signs suggest that the controversy which has blighted Mostafa Asal could...

That’s the pro game sorted – now what about squash’s grassroots?

The news that the co-owner of Chelsea FC and the LA Dodgers is to plunge 'significant investment' into top-level squash is a huge tonic...

‘How can squash survive? Courts need to be new and shiny, not old and cold’

“All the time I come across a number of people who have discovered squash late in life and they all say they wish they...

Spain’s best squash player Borja Golan retires at 40

“Hey, guys!” is a phrase Borja Golan once uttered on court. Whether it was aimed towards the old three-way referee system or to the...

Nick Matthew: Five things we learned from the 2023 World Squash Championships

Three-time world champion Nick Matthew looks back at the World Championships in Chicago and picks out his highlights and insights for Squash Mad. Nour El...

Why Squash Mad needs to be at heart of covering our sport

Coverage of squash has changed drastically. UK newspapers have led the way in the game over the years but the last decade has seen...

British Open 2023 staging in Birmingham was pure squash theatre

It was the Professional Squash Association’s COO Lee Beachill who first encountered Birmingham’s Rep theatre, widely considered the best indoor squash venue of them...

World Squash 2023: ‘Nouran Gohar will be firing after British Open’

Rod Martin has dismissed any suggestion that World No.1 Nouran Gohar will suffer from a British Open hangover when she treads the board at...

Vicious cycle: the unspoken struggle of female players

Now seems like a great time to write about a topic I’ve been thinking about for the last few months. I want to champion...

Are current fitness levels in world squash the same as Jahangir Khan era?

It is the most eagerly anticipated part of the draw in any major championship and the British Open quarter-finals are upon us at last. Yet...