Historic Canary Wharf Classic Breakthrough With Bertfair.com
At last, and for the first time, betting on the exchanges with Betfair.com is available on squash at the ISS Canary Wharf Classic, with four first round matches being played in the five-star PSA Tour event tonight (Tuesday).
The matches are [2] Thierry Lincou (FRA) v [Q] Peter Barker (ENG); [5] Lee Beachill (ENG) v Ben Garner (ENG); [3] James Willstrop (ENG) v Shahid Zaman (PAK); and [8] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) v [Q] Jonathan Kemp (ENG).
Leading coach and gambling enthusiast Malcolm Willstrop said: "Betting, I have said endlessly, is crucial to the development of the professional game and squash has been, for a long time, one of the few sports where betting has not been available.
"It was once established through Stan James, but when promised live television did not appear at the time of the Eye Group, it fell through.
"Happily, Betfair.com have taken on squash and let no-one doubt how significant this is in the sport’s history.
"Betfair have also come on board at a time when the professional game is producing wonderful sporting entertainment and is wide open.
"Thanks to Betfair, and my advice to the squash public and the betting public is simple: Get punting and show Betfair that their confidence in the sport is well-based."