A new video technology initiative will be launched at this month's ROWE British Grand Prix Championship, the biggest squash event this year in the UK which will take place at the National Squash Centre in Manchester from 19-25 September.
The ROWE British Grand Prix - Manchester 2011, the fourth of the nine PSA World Series championships in 2011, has attracted a star-studded field featuring 16 of the world's top 20 players, including six former world number ones and seven Englishmen ranked in the world top 30.
After extensive trials at recent major PSA World Tour events, the Professional Squash Association has chosen the PSA World Series ROWE British Grand Prix to launch its new initiative - which will then be used at all future televised PSA events.
The system allows match officials to review decisions (eg, 'Let', 'Stroke' or 'No Let') questioned by the players, via TV action replays viewed by a fourth official, the Video Referee.
Players are allowed one appeal per game, which remains live following a successful appeal. In the event of a game moving into a tie-break, each player has his single TV appeal opportunity renewed.
The replay of the incident is played on a large screen - with the decision then flashed up on the screen for all to see.
"Following the successful trials at the Canary Wharf Classic in London and last month's Australian Open, we are delighted to be introducing Video technology at all our future PSA televised events," explained PSA COO Lee Beachill, twice a former British Grand Prix semi-finalist.
"Video technology is used in most of today's high profile sports and we don't feel squash should be any different. We are now filming and producing squash to a level where this technology is available to our officials and, after consultation with referees and players, it has been decided that it should now be used wherever possible.
"The Australian Open was a resounding success, with fantastic crowd participation and far less player/official dialogue," added Beachill. "We are confident that this will continue to improve the spectator experience at our major events."
Paul Walters, CEO of event promoters internationalSPORTgroup, was equally upbeat about the PSA decision: "It is clear that Video Review is a further step in enhancing the crowd experience at major international squash events, and we are delighted that the PSA has chosen to launch this initiative at the ROWE British Grand Prix."
The qualification rounds will be held at Wolverhampton Lawn Tennis & Squash Club on Friday 16th and Saturday 17th September. Matches start at 12:00 noon on the Friday and at 5:30 pm on the Saturday. Entry is free for all spectators.
For all the latest information, visit the official website: www.britishsquashgrandprix.com