The 2012 PSA World Squash Championship will be held in Doha in December, following an agreement reached between the Professional Squash Association and the Qatar Squash Federation.
The $300,000 event, the second richest in the sport’s history, will take place at the Qatari capital’s Khalifa International Tennis & Squash Complex from 7-14 December.
Qatar will be hosting the event formerly known as the ‘World Open’ for the third time, having previously staged the premier championship on the PSA World Tour in 1998 and 2004.
“We are delighted to be able to confirm that Qatar will host the 2012 PSA World Championship,” said PSA Chief Operating Officer Lee Beachill. “We have been in discussions with the Qatar Squash Federation for several months and it was the event dates that took some extra time to confirm – but we are thrilled to finally confirm that our flagship event will once again be going to Qatar.
“QSF have been a huge support to PSA over many years, hosting smaller Challenger events as well as their annual World Series event, the Qatar Classic,” added former world number one Beachill. “We would like to thank Nabeel Ali Bin Ali and his team for their continued enthusiasm and vision and we are confident that this year’s PSA World Championship will be a spectacular occasion.”
On the issue of the event’s title change, Beachill explained: “The winner is the World Champion – so we decided to drop ‘Open’ and replace it with ‘Championship’ for clarity. Most other sports also have a world championship – we feel it’s much more understandable.”
England’s Nick Matthew is the reigning PSA World Champion after becoming the first player for 15 years to successfully defend the title last November in Rotterdam.
