St Petersburg Welcomes WISPA Squash Ambassadors
Just two weeks after St Petersburg welcomed 50 of the world's leading heads of government, including US President George Bush and UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, to celebrate the 300th anniversary of its foundation, Russia's second largest city opened its doors to the fifth Women's International Squash Players' Association (WISPA) promotional tour led by Australia's five-times world champion Sarah Fitz-Gerald and world No5 Vanessa Atkinson, from the Netherlands.
The WISPA visit, arranged in conjunction with the Russian Squash Federation, is the latest initiative in the Association's continuing drive to promote women's squash around the world. The main base in St Petersburg was the five-court Hypersquash Centre. Club owner Irina Podubnaya had organised a full itinerary which involved master classes, exhibition matches, press conferences and chances for local players to quiz the squash stars. Irina refused to let the fact that she was due to give birth to her second child get in the way of her plans as she revelled in this unique opportunity for her young club.
Squash in Russia is very much in its infancy with the USSR Federation joining the World Squash Federation (WSF) only in 1993 after being formed in 1990. Built less than two years ago, the Hypersquash Centre became the biggest centre in Russia and staged the 2003 National Championships in January. There are believed to be just 60 courts throughout the huge country, the five principal bases being Moscow, St Petersburg, Krasnoyarsk (a five-hour flight from St Petersburg!), Ekaterineburg and Kazan.
While Fitz-Gerald, the former President of WISPA and now Patron, was embarking on her fourth such WISPA expedition to raise the profile of women's squash, it was Atkinson's first time as a WISPA 'ambassador'. The 27-year-old from The Hague has made rapid progress up the world rankings over the past year to become the highest-ranked player ever from The Netherlands.
Members young and old flocked into the Hypersquash centre to meet the WISPA stars and join the elite players on court. "It was the most fantastic experience ever," exclaimed 16-year-old Alina Tuzlukova, who is touted as a "future squash star of Russia".
Vanessa Atkinson with promising young junior Alina Tuzlukova
Katja Glintchikova, the striking Russian women's national champion, also joined the group eager to challenge the WISPA pair.
Another youngster inspired by the occasion was nine-year-old Michael Chpakov, who gave up tennis after four years when he discovered squash - and is now completely hooked on the sport.
Chpakov is coached by Alexei Severinov, the 24-year-old from St Petersburg who was first introduced to squash some six years ago and is now the Russian men's champion.
Inspired to give up also playing tennis when a visiting Pakistani student Kuram Javed pointed out his squash talent, Severinov became the first Russian member of the Professional Squash Association (PSA) just a year ago.
He made his international debut in the 2002 World Open in Belgium, where he lost in the first qualifying round to Welshman Gavin Jones. Alexei later played in a Qatar Circuit event, and an Austrian Challenger before reaching the quarter-finals of the Estonian Open in March when he lost to England's Mark Chaloner.
Now that he has finished his Management degree at St Petersburg University, Alexei is looking forward to focussing full-time on squash - concentrating on building up his fitness over the summer and working with Egyptian Ibrahim Assal, the Russian National Coach, in Moscow.
"Sarah and Vanessa's visit has been great for squash here - giving local players the chance to see a level of squash they have never seen before and showing what professional squash is all about. I am sure it will really motivate the young players.
"It has also helped me realise that I have a lot of work to do - but I am determined to put everything into my aim to break into the world top 100 within a year," said Severinov after games against both Sarah and Vanessa.
Sarah Fitz-Gerald with Russian national champions Alexei Severinov and Katja Glintchikova
For many, the climax of the first day at Hypersquash was the exhibition match between Sarah Fitz-Gerald and Atkinson. Sarah, who withdrew from the WISPA World Tour in February, unbeaten for more than 18 months and top of the world rankings, had not played the fast-rising world No5 since the World Open in Qatar in October 2002.
It was an exhilarating encounter, with Sarah taking the opening game and Vanessa grabbing the second and leading 7-3 in the decider. The wily Australian dug deep, however, and fought back to win 9-6 7-9 9-7.
"Even though it was fun for us tonight, it still means something to win," Fitz-Gerald told the captivated crowd afterwards. Atkinson responded: "Sarah's actually retired - and she still beats me!"
The WISPA duo went on to answer numerous questions the St Petersburg fans had for them. "Squash is a great sport and you have a great club here with five excellent courts and good facilities," Fitz-Gerald told the crowd. "I hope we've given you an idea of what the sport has to offer and that people here like Alexei will continue to influence players and help them improve."
When asked about their visit, Vanessa added: "St Petersburg is a beautiful city, which reminds me of Amsterdam, with so many canals. We've had a great time, with everyone here being so enthusiastic.
"When you consider that the sport is so young here, with no experienced coaches in St Petersburg, the standard is very encouraging. There was one young boy in my group who clearly loved the sport, running around all over the court with such enthusiasm and showing real signs of talent."
Sarah Fitz-Gerald coaches a group of St Petersburg girls
