2023-10-15 01:13:11
Squash became one of the fashionable sports in Spain at the end of the last century. It achieved enormous popularity, among other things, when it was learned that the current King Emeritus was a great fan. The previous monarch played with Manolo Santana, who began practicing it when he left tennis.
At its peak, hundreds of slopes were created in major cities and it was used by many aggressive executives as an escape after a stressful workday. The matches at the Spanish International Open, where the Pakistanis Jahangir and Jansher Khan shone, had a massive following.
Then, contrary to what was happening in the rest of the planet, it lost its influence among Spanish racket fans in favor of paddle tennis, whose growth has been even more overwhelming. Now, squash dreams of a new era of splendor after being proposed for the Olympic program of the Los Angeles 2028 Games. It will be one of the five sports that enter that event along with baseball-softball, lacrosse, cricket and flag football, a golden opportunity to obtain visibility, income and new players. “The first thing that comes to mind is finally,” Pablo del Río, president of the Spanish squash federation. “I know that we have fallen short on several occasions and we have to celebrate that it has become a reality.”
Squash, which had more than 10,000 members in 1988, now survives in Spain with less than 2,000 licenses. Still, his health is not bad. “Right now there are about twenty players on the international circuit, both boys and girls,” says Borja Golán, current national coach and considered the best Spanish squash player of all time. He is a double European champion and became the fifth racket in the world ranking in 2014. «There is a lot of potential and I hope this news serves as a boost, because not all of those players make a living from this. Many continue studying and others combine it with teaching. There may be seven or eight professionals, although when I started there were half of us.
Borja Golán, best Spanish player in history and current RFES national coach
By ranking, the best Spaniard is the Barcelonan Iker Pajares (27 years old, number 21), who has ten titles on the circuit. The Catalans Bernat Jaume (28 years old) and Edmon López (27 years old) and the Tenerife-born Iván Pérez (23 years old) are also in the top 100. In girls, Cristina Gómez (25 years old) from Murcia and Marta Domínguez (22 years old) from Vigo lead the girls. years), both among the sixty best in the world. All of them will still be of age to be able to attend the Games. «For that appointment we will have to focus on two aspects –Golán reflects-. One would be the work with the juniors in case squash is maintained in the following Olympic events. And then focus on the players we have now, in the present. “We know that they are all players who, five years from now, will continue to have good results.”
“The shame is that it is likely that we will enter and leave,” laments the president of the Federation from Santiago de Compostela, where the Spanish Cup is being held this weekend. «I don’t count on it being something definitive. Hopefully, but reality is what it is. “That is why we have to take advantage of this media and visibility boost to attract more sponsors and ensure that eligible players have more opportunities in high competition.”
The competition is high, because squash is a sport that continues to grow on all five continents. The dominance now is Egypt, which has a dozen players in the world top ten in both the men’s and women’s categories, as well as the current leaders of the rankings: Ali Farag and Nour El Sherbini. «They have been the first power for a long time, but now the South American players are emerging very strongly. The world number two is Peruvian. Then, the growth of women’s squash in the United States is enormous. England, which is the cradle of this sport, is still strong… There are many Europeans, Asians… It is a global sport.
Cristina Gómez, player of the Spanish RFES team
“Half an hour of squash is equivalent to two hours of tennis, four of jogging or an entire exhausting day of golf,” ABC published in March 1982 when talking about this sport in an extensive report in which it explored its virtues and defined it as a game between cat and mouse: “The strongest player must continually make the weakest, the least prepared, run.” “Some time ago ‘Forbes’ magazine classified squash as the healthiest sport that existed,” reveals Pablo del Río. «That is a lot to say today, but it is a very complete sport, and also a lot of head. They call it chess in motion. “Strategy is very important.”
“It is one of the sports that burns the most calories per hour,” agrees Borja Golán. «Especially because 60% of the total time is played on the court. In tennis, for example, it is 15%. It is a sport that engages. In recent years it has been adapted to make it faster and more spectacular. The plate has been lowered, the score has been changed… You have to play it to appreciate it.
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