EVENTIS SQUASH NEWS

Curtain To Come Up Again On World Class Squash In Sheffield

The world's top squash players are once again heading for the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, the traditional home of the World Snooker Championships, for the English Open in August.

Eventis Sports Marketing Ltd, the company established by world No1 Peter Nicol, has  confirmed that after the success of last year's inaugural event, the world's greatest players will head for the Crucible to compete again in the top men's event from 11-15 August.

The English Open will be the first major event of the 2003/4 season, starting things in style by attracting many of the top 16 players in the world.  Nicol is one of the promoters behind the event which will be included on the Professional Squash Association (PSA) World Tour.

"We saw last year that The Crucible is a magnificent setting for squash and we are excited at the prospect of returning to its world renowned stage this August," said Nicol, who has dominated the World rankings for the past six years.  "All the feedback we had last year was of a positive nature, so we are absolutely delighted to announce that the event is back on and will be even better!"

This year's event is to be hosted by Sheffield City Council with Capita, Prince Sports and the Hilton Sheffield back on board as sponsors of this already famous event.  Tim Garner, one of Nicol's business partners at Eventis Sports Marketing, explains:  "Last year's event was a fantastic success and we now have a very good relationship with the city's Major Sports Event Unit and the other sponsors involved in the event.  This will enable us to build on that success and to begin to establish the event as one of the sport's premier titles to be won."

Tournament Director Garner goes on to point out:  "John White won the inaugural event and went on to claim the world No1 spot, albeit briefly, while local lad Nick Matthew has enjoyed a meteoric rise up to the top in the world after a good run in the event, so as a season opener it would seem to be a good indicator of form and we expect an excellent entry."

Further details and ticket information is expected to be announced in the next few days.