WISPA Tour Makes Debut In Iceland

Iceland joins the WISPA World Tour this week when the island - only 178 miles from Greenland, but part of Europe - hosts the first WISPA Premiere Series squash championship.

The Icelandair Group Classic will take place in the Icelandic capital city of Reykjavik, from 27-29 September - the first ever Women's International Squash Players' Association event on the North Atlantic island.

The WISPA Premiere Series was recently unveiled to nurture women's international squash in a new country or region. Where it can, as in this case, WISPA will find the prize money - with the local association securing hosting costs.

With the support of Icelandair Group, Chairman of Icelandic Squash Hilmar Gunnarson looks forward to welcoming the players to Veggsport Squash Club in Reykjavik, where the players will be making every effort to integrate with local players and media as part of the ethos of Premiere Series.

New Zealand's Jaclyn Hawkes leads the $14,000 Icelandair Group Classic field, which includes players from eight countries - including Iceland's Rosa Jonsdottir.

"I am very excited about playing in Iceland this week and hopefully getting a chance to look around and see a bit of the country," said Hawkes, ranked 20 in the world.

"Of all the places that I've played tournaments over the years, I would say that I'm looking forward to this experience the most," added the 24-year-old from Auckland.

"We always seem to get a great response from local players who enjoy being able to watch us play - and the local media who get interested too. Let's just hope that we can impress them all enough to convince them to hold more of these tournaments in the future!"