A New Era For Squash
As you walk from Baron’s Court tube station to the famous English Club, you cannot help feeling like you are in a time warp. The imposing building sits as if it owns the place, and its calm tradition impregnates the whole neighbourhood.
Then you enter, and more than a hundred years of history hits your imagination. Precious wood, old photos, muffled sounds, long corridors, people dressed in white everywhere (well, etiquette oblige), stairs – “there is a lift, but we don’t use it much”, says a member with a great smile - a wonderful ambiance all around, and we are finally here, a great large room arranged for the press conference.
At the top table, sit Andrew Stewart (New Chief Executive, Queen’s Club), Lord Marshall (Queen’s Chairman, previously Chairman and CEO of British Airways and currently also Chairman of Nomura, a top Japanese bank), Ziad & Paul, and Nick Matthew, who confirms what I’ve been feeling since I arrived… "The Super Series being played here is fantastic news - Queen's Club is an English institution. I've been here just five minutes and I already feel at home… "
With a little smile, he adds “But, unfortunately, being here today doesn't qualify me to be in the event! I need to do well in the rest of the Super Series events this year to earn my place.”
Yes, it’s great news that Queen’s is welcoming the event. Even Anthony Ricketts, all the way from New Zealand, called his former manager Paul Walters: "This is fantastic news - I only wish it had happened while I was still playing!" That says it all…
Chatting away with club members, in particular David Tarsh, chairing the Squash tournament committee at Queen’s that was responsible for attracting the SSF to the Club, I realise how keen everybody is to have us around.
“We will offer top-notch lunches and dinners during the tournament, giving spectators the chance to enjoy an all around event. Also, we will hold a gala dinner on the Tuesday night, attended by all the players and sponsors, preceded by a Champagne reception at the court.
"We hope this could become something of a social highlight in the Squash calendar. Our aspiration is that Queen's will do for Squash what Henley does for rowing and Ascot for horse racing." You can see in his eyes how excited he is about this whole new venture. And Lord Colin Marshall confirms, "The Queen's Club is the right place for the Super Series Finals to be." And those are not just words. The Gentleman means every syllable.