Women's Squash Tour Reaches New All-Time High

With almost half the year still to go, the Women's International Squash Players' Association reports that the WISPA World Tour will break all records in 2007.

Tour prize money will break through the $1.5 million mark, revealing a 50% rise on last year. With the number of events up by a third on last year, women's international squash is very much on the rise.

Further investigation shows that the number of WISPA Gold & Platinum events (boasting prize funds in excess of $43,000) will rise from six in 2006 to 12 this year - while the number of Tour events has increased overall from 42 last year to 70 this year. WISPA tournaments in 2007 will be staged in 54 cities in 23 countries, across all five continents.

"Not only is the Tour value going up, but the variety of events available to our members is increasing significantly too," commented WISPA President Natalie Grainger. "This is great news all round."

WISPA Chief Executive Andrew Shelley explained: "So many national federations, promoters and squash clubs are seeing what a great promotional vehicle WISPA Tour events can be. They are doing a great job for the sport locally, as well as the players and squash enthusiasts.

"We should also pay tribute to our players: They are not only great sportswomen, but superb ambassadors too. It is our members who are WISPA's real sales team," added Shelley.