Can squash squeak through into the 2020 Olympics?

What do squash, roller sports, karate, sports-climbing, wakeboard, and wushu have in common? If you guessed Olympics, you would be right! Well, sort of. In reality, none of them is an Olympic sport. These six “sports” along with the newly minted World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) are vying for the one position available for inclusion in the 2020 Olympics.

The International Olympic Committee will select the host city from the short-listed cities – Tokyo, Istanbul, and Madrid – when they meet in Buenos Aires in September 2013. The decision will also be made, on which of the seven gets anointed to the status of Olympic sport!

Can squash squeak through into the 2020 Olympics? Optimism abounds in the squash community. Many a change has been made. Advancements include outdoor arenas, stadium-type seating, under-court lighting, video reviews, and music! Players and enthusiasts have been mobilizing through World Squash Day and flash mobs in cities like New York, and Selangor, Malaysia, the home country of Nicol David, the world’s number one woman squash player. Can we expect that the third time’s the charm?

I am keeping my fingers crossed!

The final matches of the Cathay Pacific Sun Hung Kai Financial Hong Kong Open are scheduled for this weekend. The fabulous outdoor court would be the perfect setting to show off the advancements that squash has made towards being a spectator sport. Olympic observers will evaluate squash, once again, to determine if it is a game worthy of being admitted into the Olympics. A rain delay will not bode well for the organizer’s aspirations. Baseball closing ranks with softball to establish the ICSB does not bode well for squash. After all, baseball was an Olympic sport until it got booted out in 2008.

As for the other sports in contention, squash is on an even keel. Considering that I don’t even begin to understand sports like wakeboard and wushu, I could be wrong. Kite surfing and rugby sevens were picked over squash for the 2016 Olympics!

However, I remain cautiously optimistic!

Do you believe squash is a game worthy of Olympic status?  Which of the seven “sports” do you believe has the best chance of getting picked for the 2020 Olympics?

Dax Nair
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4 Comments

  1. Thanks Dax for a well written and informative post. Hope Squash makes it this time. Really surprised to read that Kite flying made it for 2016 Olympics.

    Upen

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