Tuesday, February 21, 2006

12 NATIONS TO COMPETE IN ASIAN SQUASH CHAMPIONSHIP IN TAIPEI

Taipei, Feb. 20 (CNA) More than 100 squash players from 12 Asian countries will compete in the 13th Asian Squash Championship that opened Monday in Taipei, the Squash Rackets Association of Chinese Taipei (SRACT) announced at the opening ceremony.

Squash, a sport most Taiwanese are unfamiliar with, will be an official event of the 2009 World Games, which is to be held in the southern Taiwan city of Kaohsiung.

"The championship will be a warmup game for the 2009 World Games," President Chen Shui-bian said in his opening remarks.

Players will compete over eight days for four titles in men's and women's individual and team competitions at the Taipei Arena's squash court and the central squash court.

Leading the way will be Nicol David, dubbed as Malaysia's pride and currently ranked the world's No.1 in women's squash. David, 23, is the youngest woman player in history to be No. 1 in the world, and has won four Asian championships, an Asian Games gold and a silver medal in the 2002 Commonwealth Games.

Malaysia features four women's squash players who all rank in the Top 50 internationally and the highest ranked men's player in the championship: Ong Beng Hee, who is currently 15th in the world.

Pakistan men's team, however, is the strongest in the field and favored to take home the gold. Hong Kong's women's team will be Malaysia's toughest adversary.

For host team Taiwan, the championship will be a good learning experience as Taiwan is relatively new to the game, said Pierre Chen, President of the SRACT.

There are about 170 squash courts in Taiwan and people are picking up an interest in squash. Taiwan didn't establish a squash association until 1995, although it sent its first squash team abroad in 1989.

Countries entering the competition include Hong Kong, Iran, India, Japan, Kuwait, South Korea, Macau, Malaysia, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka and host Taiwan.