Squash World Cup 2011 to be held in India

New Delhi: Following the successful conduct of PSA and WISPA events in recent times, India has been awarded the 2011 World Cup hosting rights by the World Squash Federation (WSF). The decision, taken by WSF in its Executive Board meeting yesterday, is likely to give the game a major boost in the country. Spearheaded by the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu (SDAT), the biennial event will be held in Chennai in 2011, 2013 and 2015, while next year’s final rounds will be played on an all-glass show court erected at the Express Avenue Mall, the largest shopping complex in south India. The first edition, to be named as SDAT WSF World Cup, will take place next year from March 8-12, a WSF release said. Sixteen national teams featuring top players from all over the world will compete, with the format allowing two men and one woman to participate. Strong squash nations like Australia, Egypt, England, France, Malaysia, Netherlands and hosts India are expected to compete for the title. The Tamil Nadu government is contributing a total of USD one million for the next five years for the event whose prize money is USD 125,000, with USD 50,000 going to the winning team. “Not only is this exciting event a great boost for India, with the opportunity of watching top stars competing in the flesh and on TV, but the bigger picture is that we have added an important international event to our shop-window,” said a delighted World Squash Federation president N Ramachandran. “We are eagerly looking forward to hosting the world’s best squash players in Chennai,” said TNSRA secretary general Srivatsan Subramaniam.WSF chief executive Andrew Shelley added: “We see it as essential to work with the men’s and women’s Tours to maximize our media impact and to provide a full range of world titles for our sport. “The World Cup is the only event in the squash calendar in which we have a single competition for both men and women. Hosting a tournament that is staged every two years, it’s a major step forward.” PTIZeenews Bureau Lucknow: The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court has called upon the rival parties to explore the possibility of a last-minute amicable settlement of the Ram Janambhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute.

The court has asked all parties in the title suits to appear on September 17 in this regard. If no reconciliation takes place, the court will go ahead with declaring the verdict on September 24. The order was passed on an application moved by senior advocate Prashant Chandra on the 125-year old litigation over claims by Hindus and Muslims to the disputed site in Ayodhya.

Even as a three-judge special bench of the high court is to pronounce the verdict in the case Sep 24, Justice Dharam Veer Sharma chose to hear the application and pass an order. Advocates Neeraj Kumar Srivastava and Jaspreet Singh Singh had prepared separate applications urging the court to defer the verdict, expressing fears that the judgment could vitiate the communal environment across the country.

The High Court registry had refused to accept the application on the ground that only one of the three judges was available as the other two Justice S.U. Khan and Justice Sudhri Agarwal were currently holding court in Allahabad.

`In view of the prevailing situation across the country, we are seeking postponement of the verdict scheduled to be pronounced Sep 24,` Srivastava told reporters here.

Rival claims by Hindu and Muslim groups to the site led to the demolition of the 16th century Babri Masjid by Hindu mobs Dec 6, 1992, triggering widespread communal violence that left thousands dead across the country.

-IANS inputs