Chennai, Nov 25 (UNI) Big time squash comes to this vibrant city as Chennai is all
geared up to host the World Cup from December 9-14.
A total of 12 teams, including hosts India, would feature in the championship
to be held at the famous shopping mall,Express Avenue and at the Indian
Squash Academy.
The teams were dvidied in two four groups of three teams each, with India grouped
along with Brazil and Switzerland.
The event, sponsored by the Tamil Nadu Government, will bring together squash
players from around the world to compete for the coveted trophy, Tamil Nadu
Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin, who also holds the Sports portfolio,
and Organising Committee Chairman N Ramachandran told reporters here today.
All five of World Squash’s Continental Federations will be represented in this year’s
World Cup.
From Asia, hosts India will be joined by National Federation representatives of IR Iran,
Japan, Malaysia, Republic of Korea and Hong Kong, China; Africa will be represented
by Egypt and South Africa; Europe by Poland and Switzerland; Oceania by Australia
and Panamericana by Brazil.
Apart from Mr Udhayanidhi Stalin, Zena Wooldridge, OBE, President of World Squash;
William Louis-Marie, CEO World Squash; and Thomas Troedsson, President European
Squash. Mr. Vinod Kumar Tiwari, Deputy Directory General, Olympic Council of Asia
and David Mui, Patron Asian Squash Federation and Vice President World Squash will
be present at the opening ceremony on December eight.
This edition also marks a special milestone as the Indian Squash Academy celebrates
its 25th year anniversary.
Each team would have four playeers–two men and two women–and would play four
games per match. Each match will be best of five games.
The previous edition saw several innovative changes brought in, including scoring games
to seven and sudden-death tiebreaks when scores are at 6-6. This format will remain in
place for this year’s World Cup also, with fans praising the fast-paced nature of the scoring
and the equal balance between male and female players.
In the last edition, Egypt claimed the title in an exciting come-from-behind victory against
Malaysia in front of a sell out crowd at Express Avenue Mall, with India claiming third place.
Finishing the 2023 event with a bronze medal, India will have high hopes of clinching gold
this time and will be aiming to do so with returning faces and exciting new additions. The
event would also see the return of India Men’s No.1 Abhay Singh, who would be keen to
crown himself glory in front of his home crowd.
Singh will also be joined by Velavan Senthilkumar, who will be making his World Cup debut.
The 27-year-old, who has found success representing India in previous competitions along
side Abhay Singh, winning the 2024 and 2025 Asian Doubles Squash Championships and
the 2022 Men’s Asian Squash Team Championships, will be looking to add another medal
to his collection.
With Senthilkumar coming into the tournament in the back of winning the Nationals title in
August, beating his teammate, Abhay Singh, in the final, he will be in high spirits and will
be looking to achieve gold in his hometown.
The Chennai crowd will also see former World No.10 Joshna Chinappa, who will be aiming
to improve on India’s third-place finish in 2023. She played an important role in securing the
top-spot in Pool B, when she performed an outstanding rescue act against the highest
ranked player at the event, Satomi Watanabe in the last edition.
Joshna Chinappa will be joined by India’s Women’s No.1 Anahat Singh, who will be looking
to make a valuable impact in her Squash World Cup debut. The youngest player in the team
and the tournament, aged 17, Singh will be hoping to capture a gold medal for India in front
of home crowd.
Groupings :
Group A : Hong Kong, South Africa, South Korea.
Group B : India, Brazil, Switzerland.
Group C: Malaysia, Australia, Poland.
Group D : Japan, Egypt, Iran.
