MAY | REVIEW
“Squash was one of the
first sports to harness the
power of social media”
– Tim Garner, tournament director
on the squash industry.
Thatcher explains: “The state
of the art AV technology at East
Wintergarden, predominantly the
use of the LED screen, early on in the
history of this tournament I truly
believe has accelerated the speed of
VAR implementation into the squash
industry as a whole. As a direct result,
I have witnessed a change in the style
of play from the top professionals over
the past few years. Sixteen years ago,
players used to compete in best-of-
seven match finals which has now
switched to best-of-three finals due to
the much faster nature of play.”
Ensuring the loyal squash spectators
all enjoyed first-class views of the
competition, Arena Seating’s Tony
Sainsbury has project managed the
temporary grandstand installations for
over 15 years.
He explains: “This year, our
installation saw the set-up of 446
upholstered tiered tip-up seats with
space left for wheelchair positions
on both sides of the court. In order to
create the feel of a permanent sporting
auditorium in East Wintergarden,
we provided fully carpeted isles,
individually numbered seats tallying
with the agreed ticket manifest and
provided grandstand sides draped in
black to ensure aesthetic visuals for live
TV broadcasting. We are constantly
investing in our tried and tested
equipment to ensure we are able to
support the event management team
by maximising the seated capacity
18
within the venue, always taking into
consideration the very latest safety
guidelines on access and egress times.
Working with Tim Garner at Eventis
Sports Marketing, the venue and
everyone involved in this longstanding
event is a pleasure – an event we look
forward to seeing grow year on year.”
James Joslin, from event branding
specialist CSM Live, commented:
“We’ve been working on the event for
over a decade and strive to push the
visual boundaries, delivering fresh, bold
graphics and branding for key sponsors.
“This last year has seen greater
exposure for the event with new large-
scale vinyl coverage on the exterior of
the venue, this not only enables brilliant
branding at scale, but in a clever move,
also allows matches to be played during
the daytime, unimpeded by sunlight.
Over the course of one day, a team of
three install vinyl branding used in the
venue entrance, on the upper internal
mezzanine, a large external graphic
advert and sponsor logos on the glass
court itself, which allows sponsors
to be visible during TV coverage for
match play and to spectators without
impeding the view of the action. “
With live streaming and TV
broadcasting critical to maximising
the global reach of the growing sport,
MOOV director Nev Appleton discusses
the production considerations required
for broadcasting: “Over the years
we’ve worked with Tim and the wider
event team, it is astonishing the time
and effort that goes into the court
presentation, the dressing of spectator
and player areas and attention to detail
to ensure the venue as a sporting arena
is finished to the highest level possible.
“The venue’s in-house AV technology
and screens work really well with TV,
with most other squash events they
are two separate entities so it is good
to have a mutual appreciation of each
other’s needs and ultimately what is
best for the event. We supply everything
to do with the live global broadcast from
staffing to cameras, sound, replays,
engineering and graphics all housed at
the rear of the venue in a professional
outside broadcast vehicle. A skycam
was set up over the court, with two
cameras situated on courtside with a
fourth camera rigged to the venue’s
mezzanine level.
“Our team is usually on site a
few days prior to ensure nothing
has changed that will affect our
broadcasting directly, but thanks to
the great support of the event staff we
are able to set up smoothly in just over
a day. Most of the team during play are
located within the broadcasting trucks
due to our use of remote cameras, with
an additional radio camera operator on
the floor for player introductions and
interviews. Once we are on air, we send
pictures to hundreds of countries live
and to channels including Squash TV,
BT Sport and Eurosport. see this event
get better year on year.”
Suppliers collaboratively worked to
ensure the temporary infrastructure
was aesthetically adapted for both
the players and TV audiences. The
grandstands were draped black seats
and blackout backdrops blocked out
the sunshine; all to help the players
see the small, white squash ball and
providing a contrasting visual backdrop
for TV broadcasting, making it easier to
photograph the action.