Phil Harrison: Resolve in Hull emphasises why squash deserves Olympic place

RAIN stopped play. It wasn’t only people trudging to Headingley Carnegie this week that missed out on their chosen sporting action.
James Willstrop in action in Hull.James Willstrop in action in Hull.
James Willstrop in action in Hull.

For three days this week, I was able to unchain myself from my desk at YP Towers and get out to see some live sporting action – it generally only occurs during the ice hockey season as I am required to be back at central command to sub the purple prose produced by my far more talented colleagues.

The ‘rain’ referred to in the opening paragraph refers to a particularly wet and cold night at Hull’s KC Stadium on Thursday night when, after a day of awful weather, the roof finally relented over the outside, all-glass court at the British Open Squash Championships.

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Persistent drips at both the front and the back of the court caused the second round match between Pontefract’s James Willstrop and Germany’s Simon Rosner to be temporarily abandoned, much to the dismay of the brave souls who had stuck the unseasonal temperatures in the ground’s South Stand.

After a few moments of uncertainty, the problem was quickly resolved when it was determined to relocate the match to the Hull and East Riding Squash Club, a five-minute drive down the road.

Obviously, it was a far from ideal situation. There wasn’t enough room for everyone at the KC to continue watching the match and, no doubt, some spectators took the chance of a break in proceedings to head for the warmth of their nearby homes.

But there was barely standing room at the accommodating stand-in venue, with those who had willingly made the short trip at around 10pm witnessing one of their own in the shape of Willstrop overcome his German opponent in style to win in straight games.

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As the weather continued to refuse to behave according to the time of year, all the quarter-final action also took place at the temporary venue on the Friday with, by all accounts, some riveting games to behold – although those who had been hoping to see the last-eight stages at the KC Stadium weren’t able to access the alternative stage due to a lack of space (full refunds were given).

On Saturday, Hull found itself bathed in glorious sunshine with the semi-finals in both the men’s and women’s draws living up to expectation with, at times, some breathtaking squash. The day, again, wasn’t without issues, one being the difficulty in seeing parts of the matches due to the reflection cast off the back glass wall by the sun (they couldn’t win could they).

There has been some criticism for the problems encountered in the past few days, there always is – particularly with the modern-day phenomenon of Twitter where people, often posting under another name, come out with all kinds of criticism while never, as is often the case, offering a solution of their own.

At worst, the organisers of the event can be accused of being over-optimistic when staging a sporting event outdoors during an English summer.

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But, more importantly, the resolve and ability to quickly find a solution to the problems encountered should only be admired. Again, playing away from the all-glass show court was far from ideal, but what alternative did they have?

The situation on Thursday night was quickly resolved and you can guarantee that any teething problems from this year will be resolved when the event, arguably the biggest on the squash calendar, returns to the venue next year – hopefully with a Yorkshire winner to boast of.

What events last week in the East Riding showed, yet again, was how driven and well-organised the sport of squash really is, something it needs to prove once again on Wednesday when it will be one of eight sports to give a presentation to the International Olympic Committee Executive Board in St Petersburg.

After that, it is expected that a shortlist of three will be drawn up for the full Session to vote on in Buenos Aires on September 10.

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Latest odds show that squash – regretfully overlooked for 2012 and 2016 – is second favourite to be the one sport selected, behind wrestling and ahead of karate.

It has many things to its advantage, not least the fact that you can quickly erect an all-glass showcourt almost anywhere in the world and stage a high-class tournament. Numerous idyllic locations have been graced in recent years by the athleticism and skills of Ramy Ashour, Nicol David, as well as those from Yorkshire’s leading lights Nick Matthew, Willstrop, pictured below right, and Jenny Duncalf.

Yes, there have been setbacks this week in Hull but, impressively, organisers have quickly proved their ability to adapt to whatever curve balls are thrown at them to deliver a winning spectacle. Surely, squash cannot be overlooked again.

WHILE I am quietly celebrating the end of my self-inflicted sleep deprivation, I only wish it was under different circumstances and a few more weeks down the line.

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My beloved New York Rangers, one of the Original Six in the National Hockey League, finally saw their hopes of a first Stanley Cup since 1994 extinguished by a superior Boston Bruins team on Saturday night (about 1.30am UK time).

For the past few weeks I’ve found myself awake until anytime between 3-4am, watching the Rangers toil away in the NHL play-offs.

In a sport I have grown to love with a passion – there is no obvious reason why I chose the Rangers as my team, certainly not for the success – the post-season of the world’s top (ice) hockey league is quite probably the most gruelling and exhausting in team sports.

It’s feasible that the two teams reaching the Stanley Cup final (surely the heaviest trophy in sport?) can play 28 games in the play-offs – which follows a similarly epic 82-game regular season. This season will prove to be less of an ordeal for the players, coaches and supporters given that there was no hockey until the middle of January when a protracted labour dispute led to a ‘lockout’ – only eight years after a whole season was lost over similar arguments.

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Thankfully, fans were spared the loss of another whole season and, while I will continue now with only a passing interest in the play-offs – it isn’t scheduled to finish until the middle of June – my colleague Nick Westby, so often the contributor to this weekly column for Sports Monday (he could argue too often), still maintains a vested interest in the ‘post-season’.

Having been lucky enough to have visited the United Centre in Chicago a couple of years ago, our talented sports writer has been a keen fan of the Blackhawks.

Stanley Cup champions in 2009-10 (ending a 49-year wait), ‘The Hawks’ have excelled again this year, strolling to the Western Conference title and adding the President’s Trophy (the best team overall) to boot. But, mark my words, I have bad news for young Nicholas.

Even if Chicago do win their current semi-final conference series in seven games against the Detroit Red Wings (they currently trail 3-2) and then manage to beat either Los Angeles Kings or San Jose Sharks in the conference ‘final’, they will eventually come unstuck, as both the remaining Eastern Conference teams – the Bruins and the Pittsburgh Penguins – will prove too strong and add another Stanley Cup to their own recent triumphs.

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