WSF Postpones World Junior Men’s Championships
By Howard Harding
Photographs by Steve Line/Squashpics.com
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England's James Willstrop, the heavy favorite going into the Jr. Men's World Championships, and the rest of the field will have to wait until December 3-14 for the rescheduled championships to take place in Chennai. Age eligibility will continue to be determined by the dates of the originally scheduled August event. |
The Management Committee of the World Squash Federation (WSF) has today (Monday) regretfully confirmed that the World Junior Men’s Squash Championships, planned for 13-24 August 2002 in Chennai, India, have been postponed.
The decision was reluctantly taken by the Management Committee after full consultation with all Member Nations and follows a recommendation by the Championships Committee, headed by Director George Mieras and Championship Consultant Andrew Shelley. Although tension between India and Pakistan has eased considerably in the past weeks, most nations’ foreign departments have downgraded their advice only to an ‘avoid holiday and non-essential travel’ level.
“In the circumstances, the WSF believes that the majority of nations would not be prepared to commit, at this time, to sending teams to India in August and cannot recommend that they do so,” said WSF Chief Executive Ted Wallbutton.
The provisional new dates for the Championships are 3-14 December 2002, in Chennai, with player eligibility dates unchanged. All players eligible to play in August will be allowed to compete in December.
“The WSF is fully committed to holding the event in Chennai in December and is optimistic that the tension in the region will have normalized well before the tournament,” Wallbutton added.
Entry Fees paid by Members will be held by the WSF pending confirmation of the December dates. If Nations are unable to compete at that time, the Management Committee is empowered by Championship Regulations to refund fees due to exceptional circumstances.
“The WSF wishes to express its thanks to the Squash Federation of India and Mr. N Ramachandran for the excellent planning and commitment which has already gone into the event and for their acceptance of the decision which has been forced upon them,” Wallbutton concluded. |
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