WISPA Promo Tour Provides Biggest Interest Ever For Squash In Estonia

The opening stage of the 2006 WISPA Promo Tour was hailed as the most successful squash event ever to be held in Estonia as the party led by Malaysia's world champion Nicol David and Australia's five-times former world champion Sarah Fitz-Gerald left Tallinn after a three-day visit to the East European country's capital.

The eighth annual promotional tour is the latest initiative by the Women's International Squash Players' Association in its continuing drive to support local development and promote women's squash around the world.

Estonia borders the Baltic Sea and Gulf of Finland, between Latvia and Russia - and the country's first squash club was opened in 1993. Four years later, the formation of the Estonian Squash Federation (ESF) sparked off the opening of several new clubs. National Championships for men, women and juniors have now been held annually since 1994.

There are between 30-40 courts in the country, most of which are in Tallinn and nearby cities Parnu and Tartu. The total number of players is around 1,000, a noteworthy community in a population of 1.4 million.

David and Fitz-Gerald were based during their stay at the Metro Club, which opened in Tallinn in 1997 and boasts eight glass-backed courts. The biggest club in Estonia, the Metro was also the biggest in the entire Baltic region until an eight-court club was built recently in the Latvian capital Riga.

In September 2005, the ESF launched the Estonian Squash Academy and appointed former Finnish international Toni Wallin as National Coach. Wallin already has a junior squad of more than 20 youngsters with whom he works regularly at the Metro Club - and also runs coaching sessions in other areas of the country.

Local squash enthusiasts had numerous opportunities to see David and Fitz-Gerald in action in Tallinn, in training sessions with many of the country's top men and women players, and with juniors, and in matches against many of these players - and finally in an exhibition match between each other.

"That was definitely a good experience," said ESF board member Indrek Pitk, one of the country's top men, after a match against Nicol David. "I've never played a professional before, and I got a few points, so I was pleased with my performance. Games like this seem to be a matter of who makes the first mistakes - and apparently it was always me!"

Toni Wallin, a former world-ranked player, was put through his paces by Fitz-Gerald: "That was great - I haven't played someone of that standard for a long time - but being punished for every mistake or loose shot I played was very painful," said the new Estonian National Coach.

But Wallin was also quick to point out the benefit that the WISPA stars' presence at the Metro Club was bringing to Estonia's squash community - and particularly his juniors. "It's not just a matter of seeing such a high standard of play, but also their professionalism - and the chance to talk to them about their life in squash.

"They could see the fantastic things the girls could do on court, but then realise that deep down they are just like them, as people, and need not be feared!

"But what perhaps was best is that whilst I can tell my juniors what it takes to be a good squash player, they are much more likely to take advice from world champions," added Wallin.

One of the players who joined in the training sessions, and played a match against Fitz-Gerald, was the former four-times national squash champion and three-times badminton doubles champion Kati Kraaving - who, after reaching the quarter-finals of the World Racketlon Championships earlier in the month, is now No5 in the multi-racket sport's women's world rankings.

"Nobody can beat me in badminton on the racketlon circuit, and I want to be able to achieve the same status in squash," said the 25-year-old who also plays tennis and table-tennis in racketlon.

"I am now concentrating on squash as part of the new Squash Academy at this club - but this is the first time I have seen a professional squash player and I have learned a lot just being on court with Sarah," added Kraaving.

Leading Estonian businessman Henn Ruubel, a keen player, is President of the Squash Federation. Two weeks ago the head of the country's National Rail organisation was appointed to run the former state-owned rape seed oil company Werol - an announcement which saw the ESF President featured heavily in the country's news media.

"My inspiration to take up squash was being introduced to the game by a friend some ten years ago. But I wanted to be able to beat him straight away - and I'm glad to say that I achieved my target in half a year!" boasted Ruubel.

"I believe Estonia should be a good country for squash as the weather is generally so poor - and people mostly like to be indoors. But we need to have more courts in this country - the lack of courts is the main reason why squash is not bigger here.

"One of our main objectives is to build more courts - as well as to get more people playing the sport," explained Ruubel. "If we have more juniors, we will get a champion."

Both Ruubel and Zoran Grojic, Secretary of the Estonian Squash Federation, agreed that the WISPA Promo Tour had been extremely successful - but that rewards would not materialise immediately.

Nicol and Fitz-Gerald's visit inspired widespread media coverage before their arrival - and their presence at the Metro Club attracted news cameras from two out of the country's three TV networks (Estonian TV and Kanal 2)!

These TV stations had featured already previews, but turned up to film the action and talk to the players - something much more than the fledgling squash nation had been able to attract before.

"The WISPA Tour was an excellent opportunity for us and we are most grateful to Nicol David and Sarah Fitz-Gerald for taking the time to visit us," said Grojic. "We have not had so much media attention for squash in the history of our Federation - so it has been invaluable for us.

"The event was extremely helpful to get squash closer to the broader public and to the media. We will do our best to promote squash more and more and this Tour was definitely a cornerstone for this.

"Now we look forward to the sport growing here - and we have plans to be at the European Nations Challenge Cup for the second time this September. Then we hope to make our first ever appearance in the European Team Championships next year," concluded the ESF Secretary.

WISPA Chief Executive Andrew Shelley commented to the local media: "After making new friends and experiencing great Estonian hospitality - which we hope will reap dividends for this energetic squash community - we now move on to Norway for the second and third legs of this year's Tour.

"Nicol and Sarah have repeatedly said over the past few days how rewarding this opportunity has been - and I couldn't agree with more."

WISPA's promotional tour concept was launched in 1999 with a visit to the Czech Republic. Successive years featured trips to Jamaica, El Salvador, Peru, Kenya, Thailand, Brunei, Sarawak, Russia, China and Nepal, and, last year, to Jordan and Turkey.