MAY | REVIEW
Squash
comes
back
stronger
The Citigold Wealth
Management Canary
Wharf Squash Classic is a
fitting tribute to a sport on
the up again
H
eld at event venue East
Wintergarden, the Citigold
Wealth Management Squash
Classic ran from 10-15 March, inviting
the world’s best eight male professional
players to battle to the best of-five final
as part of the PSA World Tour.
The final match saw New Zealand’s
Paul Coll triumph over the World No 3
Egypt’s Tarek Momen to maintain his
record of not losing a game throughout
the entire tournament.
Tim Garner, tournament director
says: “2019 marks the 16th year of
running the tournament and it’s a
rewarding feeling to have seen it
grown from an eight-man exhibition
to cementing its position as one of the
most successful events on the PSA
World Tour circuit. After a short period
of decline in interest in the UK a few
years ago, it’s encouraging to see the
sport welcome back an even stronger
level of support and growing at a rapid
speed, particularly in the USA.
“Squash was one of the first
sports to harness the power of
social media to fantastic effect and
have its own dedicated streaming
platform, bolstered by partnerships
with Eurosport Player and Facebook
Watch – a deal only just signed in
the last month. Whilst our target
audience predominantly tends to be
males between 30-45, there has been a
noticeable shift following an impactful
‘Squash Girls Can’ campaign and many
events now offering equal prize money.
“This year, the event has gone
undergone a number of changes.
Welcoming a new title partner in
Citigold Wealth Management, the
event was extended for the first time
to include the ‘People’s Sunday’, with
matches taking placing on the all-glass
court at the weekend. This helps us to
open the event up to a wider audience.
This extra day welcomed an additional
600 attendees, resulting in the entire
tournament being sold out within four
weeks of going on sale.”
The events’ format welcomed
squash teams from The City for a
daytime ‘Corporate Championship’,
as well as the PSA Foundations’ arm
‘Squash University’ and Rackets
Cubed, a charity supporting inner City
children through integrated sports
and education, for week-day squash
sessions before the evening professional
competitions commenced.
Joanne Taylor, venue manager,
and the in-house events team at
East Wintergarden oversaw the
transformation of the blank canvas
space into a world-class sporting
auditorium, working with all the
production suppliers to ensure a
seamless set-up.
The Main Hall played host to the glass
squash court itself flanked with two
tiered grandstands and player facilities.
Behind this stood merchandising
exhibition stands for Dunlop, HEAD
and Salming who were all supporting
the event. On the internal mezzanine
overlooking the Main Hall were six VIP
hospitality tables catered by Create
Food with unrivalled views over the
sporting action, behind which was a
temporary raised platform home to an
elevated viewing platform and a VIP
bar. The Promenade Room adjacent
to the Main Hall was utilised as the
Organiser’s Office, Media Room and
provided players with treatment and
physio facilities.
Create Foods’ event catering
manager, Andrea Taylor, ensured that
menus were changed on a daily basis,
with each VIP enjoying a three-course
dinner followed by both a fruit platter
and cheese platter with petit fours.
PSA World Tour media director Alan
Thatcher cast his thoughts on how
holding the event at East Wintergarden
in particular has had a direct impact
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