Other website sections

»Sports Market Reports

»Sports Jobs

»Tenders

»Directory

»Conferences

Demand for tickets to the Championships, which get underway this Saturday (11th October) with the qualifying rounds which are free to the public, have also resulted in all hospitality packages for the finals being sold out.

With both the men’s and women’s World Opens running concurrently at the National Squash Centre in Manchester’s Sportcity, the nine day tournament will see the leading 64 men and top 32 women in action in what promises to be the biggest squash tournament staged.

Amr Shabana of Egypt and Nicol David of Malaysia will be favourites to retain their titles but there will be no shortage of home grown players on show with no fewer than 17 British players guaranteed to line up for the knock out stages, and tickets are still available to see all the action up to and including the semi-finals but fans are advised to purchase soon as numbers are becoming limited.

There will also be a strong presence of players from the north west, including National Squash Centre coach and world number 12 Vicky Botwright, who will be retiring from the elite level after the Championships and Cheshire’s Sarah Kippax, the official ambassador of The Hi-Tec World Squash Championships.

Jim Quigley, Head of Major Sports Events and Partnerships, Manchester City Council said, “It’s fantastic that we’ve had such a positive demand for tickets and such has been the demand for the finals that we’ve even had to extend the number of hospitality packages.

“It’s been a busy year for Manchester hosting a series of world class sporting events and it’s a great reflection on the popularity of squash that we are attracting such large ticket sales. There are still seats available for all rounds up to and including the semi-finals and with so many top British players in action it’s a great opportunity to come and cheer them along.”