Shanghai Embraces WISPA Promotional Tour The three-day appearance in Shanghai by top world squash players Rachael Grinham and Nicol David, on the first leg of the promotional visit to China organised jointly by the Women's International Squash Players' Association and the China Squash Association, has raised enthusiasm for the Shanghai WorldStars Women's Squash Championship which will be staged on the city's stunning Bund waterfront in November. Announced on the opening day of the visit, the WorldStars Championship will be the first international squash event ever to be held in mainland China. The WISPA Gold tournament will feature all of the world's top women players, including Australia's Rachael Grinham, the world No2, and Asian No1 Nicol David, the world No8 from Malaysia. The 2004 tour to China is the latest initiative in WISPA's continuing drive to promote women's squash around the world. The Shanghai stage was primarily hosted by the Shanghai Jinqiao Megafit Sports Club, which welcomed the WISPA party for two days. The visit featured clinics, exhibition matches and coaching sessions for a host of local players. Enthusiastic Megafit players join Rachael and Nicol in a welcome photograph by the club's five courts Shanghai, China's second largest city, boasts a population of more than 20 million and is considered the leading commercial centre in China. Squash in its infancy in the city which features high-rise buildings as far as the eye can see, and where there are more bicycles than cars. There are pockets of players spread around Shanghai, enjoying their sport at mainly single-court facilities. Officially opened just two weeks earlier, the superbly-appointed Megafit Sports Club boasts five ASB glass-backed courts, together with four tennis courts, eight badminton courts, two basketball courts, an indoor swimming pool, a multi-function gymnasium and 'Spa Fusion'. Nestling within the Green City near the Jinqiao Export Zone, the impressive club is spread over 11,000 square metres - and offers the biggest squash facility in China. "It is truly an honour to be hosting the first leg of this WISPA promotional tour to China," said club manager Walter MacDonald before the opening session. Macdonald, originally from Inverness in Scotland, has lived in China for many years and joined the Megafit organisation at the beginning of the year to oversee the Jinqiao club launch. Many of the squash players in Shanghai are ex-pats, from neighbouring countries like Hong Kong and Singapore, or from further afield like the UK and the USA. These, and newly-inspired local players, have formerly relied on overseas coaches to set them on the right path, though Megafit have appointed Shanghai-based Dick Dai as Assistant Squash Coach to oversee the squash programme at the club.   Nicol (second left) and Rachael (second right) at the Megafit Sports Club pictured with (L to R): Javi (from Hong Kong, studying at famous Fudan University in Shanghai); Judy Ding (Assistant Coach at Megafit); and Helen (a former football player who took up squash a year ago) Grinham and David wowed the enthusiastic squash followers at Megafit, none of whom had experienced squash at this level before. Shanghai's top local player Johnnie Cia revelled in his chance to play three-times Asian champion Nicol David. The 25-year-old, who only took up the game three years ago, was almost speechless after his one-game encounter. "She can control the ball so well, with no mistakes, and gets the ball so deep," said Cia. "I must concentrate on my positioning, and learn to control the ball like Nicol." Judy Ding is another local player who has become a recent convert to squash. "It was so useful to see, and play with, both Rachael and Nicol," said Ding, who will assist Dick Dai as a coach at Megafit. A press conference at Megafit attracted two TV channels as well as a host of journalists and photographers - all eager to discover the appeal of this relatively unknown sport. Rachael, Nicol and WISPA Executive Director Andrew Shelley were interviewed by Orient TV and Shanghai TV, and the players filmed on court. At the end of the Megafit visit, Walter MacDonald was full of praise for the efforts made by the party to inspire enthusiasm for squash amongst the club's members. "The visit has not only helped raise the awareness of our own recent launch, but has highlighted the appeal of squash to the whole Shanghai community. "Rachael and Nicol could not have been more obliging in playing with and talking to all the people that came to the sessions - everybody really enjoyed and it and we are eternally grateful for their warmth and generosity. We have a number of kids' programmes planned for squash, and this will really help us kick-start this initiative," MacDonald added. On the third day, the party visited the squash club at Hong Kou Stadium. Run by General Manager Mr Sheng, the club is a public facility run by the Shanghai Sports Commission. Originally featuring two glass-backed courts, the club recently converted a badminton court into a third squash court due to the ever-increasing demand for squash! The club hosts squash sessions for the nearby Shanghai Sports Institute, which was established in 1952 and is the oldest Sports University in China, with students from all over China. Mr Yao, the Institute's Principal, is the Deputy Commissioner of the Shanghai Sports Commission and also sits on the organising committee of November's Shanghai WorldStars Championship. "We Welcome From Our Heart The World WISPA Players Coming To Our Club" read a large banner, written in Chinese, displayed at the entrance of the club. Some twenty Institute students eagerly awaited the opportunity to see the WISPA stars in action, then queued to battle with them individually on court. "Sadly, unlike sports like tennis and badminton, squash does not have dedicated facilities and full-time coaches at Universities in China," said Yang Jian Fei. "What we need is more Chinese coaches, who can inspire us, then the sport has the chance to take off," added Yang, a convert to squash when he chanced upon a game being played at the stadium club. "It has been a great experience for us to see world-class players like Rachael and Nicol here - and I look forward to more opportunities like this, and the big event in Shanghai later in the year," said Yang. As the party prepared to leave Shanghai, en-route to the second leg in Beijing, Karl Mak acknowledged that the visit had been a sensational success. Hong Kong-based Mak, the Megafit Clubs' Sport & Recreational Consultant who is also a Technical Advisor to Hong Kong Squash, played a significant role in the planning and co-ordination of the WISPA Tour. "The tour has been a huge success for three reasons: Firstly, it has given local players a unique chance to play against some of the world's top players, and see them in action - something which all the best players in Shanghai were able to benefit from over the past few days. It was good for them to see what top quality squash is all about," Mak explained. "It was also good for the Jinqiao District Government, who actually own the Megafit club which we manage on their behalf, to see that we have fulfilled what was planned. We insisted that squash should be one of the facilities on offer at the club, and then ensured that the courts were of international standard. Now we have been able to show endorsement of this commitment by this visit by WISPA, one of the sport's leading international bodies. "And furthermore, such has been the professionalism, discipline and hard work put in by the WISPA party, that we know that the visit will achieve worldwide media coverage, and will therefore help us to raise the profile of the development of squash in China," Mak added. "Rachael and Nicol are a credit to WISPA and the women squash professionals around the world - we really did not expect them to be so generous with their time, but they exceeded our expectations in every way."