Birmingham To Host English Grand Prix Squash Championship

The English Grand Prix - Birmingham 2007, a new 5-star PSA Tour championship, will be held at the University of Birmingham from 6-9 September.

Launched by sports management company internationalSPORTgroup, the English Grand Prix will boast a $50,000 prize fund and will be supported by a full programme of masters and junior events which are expected to attract over four hundred competitors.

"We are delighted to be able to announce the English Grand Prix - Birmingham 2007 as an exciting new addition to the Men's World Tour," said Tournament Promoter Paul Walters of internationalSPORTgroup.

"The English Grand Prix - Birmingham 2007 will be staged in the heart of Birmingham with the support of our hosting sponsors the University of Birmingham, Birmingham City Council and Marketing Birmingham as part of a four year programme which will culminate in the staging in the city of the 2010 British Open, the world's most prestigious and longest-established event in world squash.

"The facilities and setting at the University of Birmingham are spectacular and will provide this year's championships with an ideal venue," added Walters. "We are very excited at the prospect of working closely with our event partners in establishing a hugely successful long term addition to the professional squash circuit in the UK."

Brian Stocks, Birmingham City Council's Head of Sport and International Events, said: "We are delighted to welcome back a major squash event to Birmingham; this will be the largest squash tournament this city has staged for six years. Birmingham is a world class sporting city and the English Grand Prix will be added to a long list of prestigious events which we have staged in recent years. I look forward to developing our working relationship with internationalSPORTgroup and the Professional Squash Association and to bringing more squash tournaments to Birmingham in the near future."

Zena Wooldridge, Director of University Sport Birmingham, was equally upbeat about the agreement: "It's time major championship squash returned to Birmingham, and this event is the start of a unique multi-partnership and a four-year plan designed to breathe new life into squash in the region. We're trying to be as innovative as possible in raising the profile of squash and extending its spectator appeal. We also plan to build a development programme around these events, to boost participation in squash in the region and discover some new young stars of the future."