In a press release detailing the event and host city, the Professional Squash Association has announced that the 2016 version of Al Ahram Professional Squash Tournament will be hosted in Giza, a city well known for the Great Pyramids.
The announcement means that the tournament will have a picturesque background of pyramids as shown in the image. The last time this backdrop was used for international squash tournament was for the 2006 World Championship, providing imagery of one of the most iconic sporting locations ever.
The agreement between the PSA, Egyptian Squash Federation and promoter Amr Mansi [Managing Director of I Events] makes sure that the sport’s top stars will once again compete in front of the trio of structures between September 19-23, 2016. The 16-man tournament will see the world’s elite compete for a share of a $100,000 prize fund as part of what promises to be an electric 2016/17 PSA World Tour season.
Speaking on the occasion was the PSA COO Lee Beachill, “We are delighted to have reached an agreement with the Egyptian Squash Federation and promoter Amr Mansi that will see squash return to one of the most spectacular settings in world sport in front of the the Great Pyramid of Giza later this year.”
Further, recalling the 2006 World Championship, he said, “The images captured during the 2006 World Championship, the last time the sport was played there, continue to set the standard for all other squash tournaments, and many other sports around the world, to aspire to and showed the world that squash has an unmatched ability to showcase the most stunning locations in the world.”
“We’re very excited to be returning to Giza and look forward to working with all our partners to ensure that this year’s event goes down as one of the best in history and will be supported with a live television broadcast that will ensure the most iconic location in the sport is transmitted into the homes of millions of fans around the world,” he concluded.
Amr Mansi, I Events Managing Director and Tournament Promoter, said: “Bringing squash back to the Great Pyramids of Giza has been an ambition for me over the past few years and the Al Ahram International Squash Open was the first inspiration to me to start this career of promoting squash events in Egypt . I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Egyptian Squash Federation and the PSA for working together to make the Al Ahram International Squash Open return once again.”
Egyptian Squash Federation President Mr Assem Khalifa added: “We are glad to announce that we will once again be hosting one of the most distinguished squash events in the world here in Egypt.”