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Racketball: a (very) brief history; and why WSF should think again By DAVID IRESON – Squash Mad Correspondent in Aberdeen   The passage of time allows a great deal of opportunity for reflection and review of past events, to scrutinise their efficacy as carriers of both positive and negative actions and impacts on our daily [...]

Clubs, coaches, players and racket manufacturers all refuse to play ball with name change By Alan Thatcher, Squash Mad Editor As we warned the other day, attempts are being made to officially rebrand racketball as Squash 57. The news was officially announced today by the World Squash Federation to a chorus of disbelief and derision [...]

Stand by for a racketball revolution as new name is about to be announced By Alan Thatcher, Squash Mad Editor News reaches Squash Mad HQ from our outer space branch office that a decision has been reached for a new name for racketball.  Please bear in mind that not a single racketball (or racquetball) player asked for [...]

WSF to investigate claims that winning juniors are 20 years old By Alan Thatcher, Squash Mad Editor The World Squash Federation are investigating claims that Pakistan fielded two over-age players while winning the recent World Junior Team Championship in Poland. Israr Ahmed, who beat Egypt’s number one Saadeldin Abouaish in straight games in the final, is [...]

Squash can be proud of booming PSA Tour says Alex Gough By NATHAN CLARKE   In the wake of yesterday’s confirmation from the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) that squash will not feature in the 2020 Olympic Games, Professional Squash Association (PSA) Chief Executive Alex Gough has reiterated his belief that the future of squash is [...]

Few, if any benefits would accrue from a place at the tainted top table COMMENT: By A Squash Professional   On the eve of the 2016 Olympic Games, with the event already mired in the usual allegations of crime, corruption and drug-related controversy, a former professional squash player, now a leading coach, debates whether squash needs [...]

As top golfers avoid Rio, Olympic ideals come under the microscope By Alan Thatcher, Squash Mad Editor James Willstrop wrote another impassioned plea for squash to be included in the Olympic Games after Rory McIlroy became the latest golfer to announce that he would not be competing in the Rio Games next month. Willstrop’s Blog, [...]

Top seed Charles Sharpes loses bitter battle on racket-throwing conduct stroke By ALAN THATCHER    Top seed and reigning champion Charles Sharpes crashed out of the Select Gaming PSA M10 Kent Open after a dramatic and often physical contest with Welsh No.2 Joel Makin. This bitter, ugly clash ended with Sharpes receiving a conduct stroke [...]

Fan’s eye view of a top-class tournament  By JAMES ROBERTS – Squash Mad Correspondent   Squash enthusiast James Roberts has worked tirelessly to promote World Squash Day in the past two years. Here he writes about a day trip to London to begin work on WSD 2016 with a trip to the Canary Wharf Classic [...]

Single referee and video review at Canary Wharf  By Alan Thatcher, Squash Mad Editor The PSA are to trial a return to a single referee system, aided by a video review official, at Canary Wharf next week. Canary Wharf has a proud tradition of supporting innovation in squash, having been the initial vehicle for the [...]

Egyptian ace looks for the positives after climbing to world No.6 By Alan Thatcher, Squash Mad Editor Tarek Momen has revealed the torment caused by a run of disappointing results prior to a surge in form in recent months that has taken him to a career-best position of No.6 in the world rankings. He admitted [...]

Daryl Selby left stunned by rival’s amazing retrieval By Alan Thatcher, Squash Mad Editor French ace Mathieu Castagnet has dived and chased his way into squash folklore after producing the most phenomenal piece of retrieving ever seen. His opponent, Daryl Selby, could not believe it as Castagnet dived into the front left corner to scrape [...]

Cool, laid-back squash oasis closes its doors By TERRY PRITCHARD – Squash Mad Canadian Correspondent   On February 5th, a unique chapter in Canadian squash came to an end as the National Squash Academy in Toronto announced it was closing. While this news was not completely unexpected – rumours of trouble with the NSA’s lease had been [...]

Elshorbagy brothers love leading the Bristol squash family By ROSANNA RADLINSKA – Squash Mad Special Correspondent   Mohamed Elshorbagy once again proved why he occupies the number one spot in the PSA Men’s rankings. He has just recorded yet another victory in Taeq Squash Colombia Open which took place from February 14-20 and which cements his [...]

Girl talk reveals positive response to lower tin By ALEX WAN – Squash Mad Asian Bureau Editor   The introduction of the 17-inch tin (from 19 inches) into the women’s game some months back marked another step into standardising the game for both men and women. While there were certainly concerns about it being a move that [...]