Ziad Al-Turki
In
2005 when we launched the first Saudi International Squash
Tournament none of us involved dreamed of reaching the level of
success this tournament has achieved in such a short span of
time. We were merely eager to bring the sport we loved to the
country we loved.
By the grace of God, and the help of all our sponsors, we were
able to rise in four years to levels others took many years to
accomplish. Saudi Arabia became the lead country pushing the
World Squash Tour to new levels. We have in the past two years
set new historical prize funds never seen in squash before. We
also set new standards for tournaments for others to follow. We
were able to show the world that Saudi Arabia can compete on the
International Front in a major sport just as any nation can.
We are also proud of the achievements we had in developing young
talent in Saudi Arabia. Since the start of the Saudi
International we aimed at using the event as a platform to
encourage young Saudi palyers and to attract professionals to
help develop young Saudi potentials; either by bringing them to
coach in Saudi Arabia, or by sending our players internationally
to train in special training camps organised specifically for
the young Saudi player and his specific needs.
We
began to see the fruits of our labour last year, when for the
first time Saudi Arabia had a top three finish in the Arab
League Championships, taking second place overall, and also
taking second place in the GCC Finals.
I am also proud to say that I have been appointed as the first
Arab to chair the Professional Squash Association with my
appointment as Chairman last October.
The meteoric rise of squash as a spectator sport and an
entertainment will continue in 2010 when we will host the World
Open here in Saudi Arabia. Our accomplishments over the last
four years have resulted in us being awarded with the rights to
host the biggest and most prestigious event in the game of
squash - the World Open.
We are very thankful to all our sponsors who have helped forge a
new era for squash, not only in Saudi Arabia, but on the
International Front as well, and hope that they and others
continue their generous support in the years to come.
Head of the Organising Committee
Chairman of PSA |
Alex Gough
On
behalf of The Professional Squash Association I am delighted to
welcome you to the Saudi International Squash Tournament 2009.
Amazingly we are already in the fifth year of this fantastic
event. The PSA players are very lucky to have an event such as
this where they are treated so well and I am sure this is why
there have been so many amazing matches in this event over the
last few years.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia can be very proud of the main reason
why we are all here this week and why we are playing the biggest
event on the squash calendar. It is because of one man, Ziad
Al-Turki. His passion for the game of squash and his passion for
squash’s future success are unwavering and relentless and will,
I am sure, be the major catalyst behind us all achieving our
goals.
Thank you again to Sunset Beach for their fantastic hospitality
and last but certainly not least, we are all extremely grateful
to Emad Zirky who keeps the whole event team running like
clockwork.
Good luck to everyone involved and I hope you enjoy another
fantastic ATCO Saudi International Squash tournament.
CEO,
Professional Squash Association |