Fifth WISPA Promotional Tour Targets Russia The Women's International Squash Players' Association (WISPA) is continuing its drive to promote women's squash around the world with its fifth annual WISPA Promotional Tour in June to Russia. The tour will be led by Australia's five-times world champion Sarah Fitz-Gerald, now the Patron of WISPA since her retirement from the international circuit earlier this year, and top European Vanessa Atkinson, the world No6 from the Netherlands. The Tour itinerary, which has been arranged in conjunction with the Russian Squash Federation, will feature exhibitions, clinics, press conferences and meetings with sports bodies in St Petersburg and Moscow from 13-22 June. The main base in St Petersburg will be the five-court Hypersquash Centre which hosted the Russian National Championships earlier this year. Irina Podubnaya, the director co-ordinating the visit, explained: "It is a dream come true for us to have these top women come to St Petersburg. For us and our city where squash is still a young sport, it's a long-awaited event for which we have high expectations. Thank you WISPA." Several venues will be part of the Moscow programme. Vasily Borisov, President of the Russian Squash Federation, welcomes the visit, saying: "Interest in squash is growing in Russia, and we look forward to making squash a big sport in the country. To join with WISPA to bring top players will help us encourage our growing group of players as well as show squash to the newspapers and television." WISPA Director Andrew Shelley added: "We feel it's vital to be pro-active with this kind of development support for squash, rather than sit back and wait for the market to grow. These promotional Tours do enable us to help in a small way. "We are of course indebted to our two leading players for their part in this programme, as they give their time free," Shelley explained. "Although she has retired from the Tour, Sarah has always been keen to support such initiatives - and Vanessa, recent winner of the Irish Open, also had no hesitation in accepting our invitation." WISPA's promotional tour concept was launched in 1999 with a visit to the Czech Republic. Successive years saw trips to Jamaica, El Salvador, Peru, Kenya, Thailand, Brunei and Sarawak.