Manchester To Host ATCO Super Series Finals

Just weeks after concluding a seven-year agreement with the Professional Squash Association to re-launch the PSA Super Series Finals, Ziad Al-Turki, Vice-President of the ATCO Group, and Paul Walters, founder of the internationalSPORTgroup, have confirmed that this year's championships will be held in Manchester, England, from 9-12 August.

The ATCO Super Series Finals - Manchester 2007 will bring together the top eight qualifiers from the annual PSA Super Series World Tour and will be staged on the stunning all-glass show court at the National Squash Centre in Sportcity. The four-day championships will feature two pools of four players, leading to finals which will produce a 1-8 finish.

World No1 Amr Shabana of Egypt will lead a star-studded eight-man line-up which will feature compatriots Karim Darwish and Ramy Ashour, the new world No2; Australia's World Champion David Palmer; Thierry Lincou and Gregory Gaultier of France; and British Open champion Nick Matthew and James Willstrop of England.

Ziad Al-Turki said: "Since acquiring the rights to this major event, we have been working very hard at finalising a solid and sustainable platform from which the championships can prosper over the short, medium and long-term - and the National Squash Centre in Manchester, with its unrivalled reputation for hosting major squash championships, is the ideal venue to kick start a very exciting period for the event.

"This year's championships will be one of the most exciting and eagerly contested in Super Series Finals history and will provide the perfect event to launch the new squash season."

Paul Walters of internationalSPORTgroup added: "The Super Series Finals is without question one of the most important events on the PSA World Tour and Ziad and I are very grateful for the support of Manchester City Council in helping to stage this year's event at such short notice.

"ATCO Super Series Finals - Manchester 2007 will boast one of the richest prize funds in the sport and we hope to announce a comprehensive programme of TV coverage in the near future which will ensure that the event is distributed to the largest possible global audience."

Jim Quigley, of Manchester City Council, added: "Manchester has established a reputation for staging world class sporting events, including many national and international squash championships. The ATCO Super Series Finals - Manchester 2007, alongside the National Championships which have found a home in Manchester for the past nine years, and the Dunlop British Open which will be staged in the city in September, will play a pivotal role in showcasing the city's unrivalled squash development programme."

Gawain Briars, Chief Executive of the PSA, concluded: "The ATCO Super Series Finals have truly arrived. With the most welcome support of Manchester City Council, we know that presentation this August will be second to none at one of the world's premier squash destinations - the National Squash Centre in Manchester. Our continuing thanks and recognition go to Ziad Al-Turki, Paul Walters, Jim Quigley and Manchester City Council for their joint efforts in re-launching the star rating of this world premier event."

Ziad Al-Turki first became associated with squash in 2005 when he launched the Saudi International, a PSA Super Series Platinum event in Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia. Paul Walters, who launched the internationalSPORTgroup in 2004, in addition to managing a number of the top players, also promotes the British Open, as well as the Wolverhampton Open and new English Grand Prix.