It is all set for the second edition of the Chamberlain Squash Open (CSO); a tournament organised mainly to seek out the next generation of Nigerian squash players who will hold their own and do the country proud on the international scene.
In the words of the promoter, Chamberlain Usoh: “Chamberlain Squash Open is not a jamboree. The main objective of the programme is to contribute immensely to the development of squash at the grassroots and provide a robust platform that will birth and nuture a new generation of squash players who will proudly hoist the country’s flag on the international arena.”
The competition is billed to take place from the 7th – 12th of May, 2018. It will commence with the qualifying rounds which takes place on 7th & 8th before the main draws scheduled for the 9th of May.
As a show of support and endorsement of the tournament by the Lagos State Government through the Lagos State Sports Commission, this year’s edition will take place at the Teslim Balogun Stadium. This would allow for more fans to witness world class squash action because of the larger gallery space compared to what we had last year.
Talking about world class squash action, the 2018 edition of this tournament has the approval of the Professional Squash Association (PSA) and this has in turn resulted in the registration of more PSA ranked players for the event. So far, 32 foreign and 25 local ranked PSA players have registered to compete for $25,000 and $10,000 in the male and female categories respectively.
In the same vein, the World Squash Federation (WSF) has designated Nasser Sayed Zahran Mohammed (a top referee in the squash body) to work with other referees in order to help with contentious calls as witnessed during the first edition last year.
The promoter of the event, Chamberlain Usoh thanked Century Energy, Remita, the Lagos State Government and the Lagos State Sports Commission ably represented by the Director General, for their support saying: “they have thrown their weights behind this initiative and we remain grateful to them for believing in the course to encourage and give youths their pride of place in the sport.”
He also expressed his gratitude to the partners of the competition and the media for the support and their effort in improving squash awareness in the country.
