Hyderabad To Host WISPA's Qatar Airways Challenge

After two years in Doha, the Qatar Airways Challenge will move to India this year. The third biggest championship on the Women's International Squash Players' Association World Tour, boasting a prize fund of $79,550, will be played from 4-9 July in Hyderabad, a major Qatar Airways destination in India.

In an exciting innovation that will ensure a great presentation for Indian and world-wide TV audiences, the final rounds will be played on an all-glass court erected in front of the Falaknuma Palace, an historic building set on a hill overlooking the city of Hyderabad. Early rounds will take place at the Secunderabad Club.

Announcing the women's championship, which will be the biggest ever to be held in India, Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Mr Akbar Al Baker said the airline was delighted to be backing a sport which is gaining huge recognition and reputation around the world.

"We are extremely thrilled to once again be staging the Qatar Airways Challenge. After hosting the tournament in Qatar for the past two years, we are pleased to be taking the sport to India and staging the tournament in Hyderabad, a city Qatar Airways flies to four times a week.

"Qatar Airways looks forward to welcoming the world's top women squash players for what promises to be an exciting event with excellent prize money on offer. Many of the players will be flying to India with Qatar Airways and sampling the award-winning Five Star hospitality that we are renowned for around the world."

Added Al Baker: "Our sponsorship of the WISPA event is integral to Qatar Airways' strategy of using sport to help spread its message as a leading international airline."

WISPA Chief Executive Andrew Shelley responded: "This is an exciting development of our enduring partnership with Qatar Airways. It was always the intention to move to destinations for the airline, and the news is certainly already creating a stir in Hyderabad where Indian Cements, Taj Hotels, SRFI and the venues are pulling out all the stops to support us. It is a major worldwide televised WISPA championship and the setting in India will certainly do it justice this year."

India is a strategically important market for Qatar Airways. The airline currently operates 30 scheduled flights a week between Doha and five Indian destinations of Mumbai, Hyderabad, Cochin, Delhi and Trivandrum, with plans to boost its Indian network to other cities over the next few years.

Qatar Airways has a fleet of 45 all-Airbus aircraft flying to 70 destinations from its hub in Doha, capital of the State of Qatar. Daily flights between Doha and Hong Kong were launched in March, marking the airline's historic 70th route.

The airline's fleet will almost triple in size over to 110 aircraft by 2015. Qatar Airways plans to acquire 60 of the new generation Airbus A350s and 20 Boeing 777s, worth a total US$15.2 billion.

Qatar Airways is one of only four airlines in the world with a Five Star ranking for service and excellence awarded by Skytrax, the independent aviation industry monitoring agency. Skytrax also named Qatar Airways' cabin crew as Best in the Middle East for the third year running in 2005 and fifth best in the world following a survey of more than 12 million passengers worldwide.