11-Sep-08:
The Queen’s Club to be new home for ATCO Super Series Finals |
"The Super Series
Finals is without question one of the most important events on the
men's World Tour and Ziad and I are delighted to be bringing the
championships to The Queen’s Club.
"The ATCO Super Series Finals – The Queen’s Club 2009 will offer one
of the richest prize funds in the sport and a comprehensive
programme of TV coverage will ensure that the event is distributed
to the largest possible global audience."
Chief Executive of internationalSPORT Group
"We are tremendously
excited by the accord we have struck with the ATCO Group and
internationalSPORTgroup. Top squash live is absolutely thrilling and
spectators will be able to see it on a state-of-the-art all-glass
show court.
"Our aspiration is to help Paul and Ziad build on what is already a
terrific sporting fixture and grow it into a spectacular sporting
occasion, broadening its appeal and attracting a wider audience."
The Queen’s Club Chairman |
The
world-famous Queen’s Club in London will play host to the
ATCO Super Series Squash Finals next year.
One of the most important squash championships on the PSA Tour, the
ATCO Super Series Finals – The Queen’s Club 2009 sees the top eight
players in the world competing for one of the richest prize funds in
the sport.
The Queen’s Club is best known as the home of the Artois
Championships, the premier pre-Wimbledon grass court tennis
championships.
Promoters of the four-day championships, which will take place from
14-17 March, believe the decision to hold the event at The
Queen’s Club is ground-breaking for the game of squash.
Among the star names expected to take part are world number one Amr
Shabana, of Egypt; fellow countryman Ramy Ashour; Australian David
Palmer, the reigning British Open champion; leading English players
James Willstrop and Nick Matthew; as well as title-holder Gregory
Gaultier, the world number two from France.
"Since
acquiring the rights to this major event, we have been working very
hard at finalising a solid and sustainable commercial platform from
which the championships can prosper over the short, medium and
long-term. Bringing this prestigious event to The Queen’s Club has
the potential to take the profile of professional squash on to a new
level.
"The Queen’s Club is one of the world's greatest rackets clubs and
many things about it really appealed to us, including its unique
heritage, its convenient location, its track record of hosting top
quality events and the enthusiastic reception we have received from
its members. I am sure that staging the event at The Queen’s Club
will help us greatly to further drive the success of the
championships."
Vice-Chairman of the ATCO Group
Since concluding a seven-year
agreement with the PSA in 2007, the prestigious annual season-ending
championships, and the squash equivalent of the Tennis Masters Cup,
has grown from strength to strength under the joint-stewardship of
Ziad Al-Turki and the internationalSPORTgroup. The 2009
championships will boast a prize fund in excess of $100,000 and will
feature the world’s top eight players who will compete in two pools
of four players, leading to finals which will produce a 1-8 finish.
Steeped in history and with unrivalled sporting facilities, The
Queen’s Club has several elegant rooms and high quality catering to
ensure that spectators will enjoy a memorable occasion in an
historic setting alongside the best squash in the world. The ATCO
Super Series Finals – The Queen’s Club 2009 will end with a gala
dinner after the final, attended by all players and sponsors.
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