Excited Players Hail O’Trafford Squash Club, Call For More PSA Tournaments

Squash action on day one of the OTrafford PSA National Closed Satellite squash tournament in Lagos

Appreciated with a massive turnout of players, fans and officials from every nooks and crannies of the nation, basking in the euphoria of playing in the first ever PSA Senior Squash Tournament organised by the O’Trafford Squash Club, excited players at the tournament are advocating for more PSA sanctioned tournaments in the country to stand the chance of getting enough ranking points for international competitions.

The players expressed their feelings yesterday as the PSA National Closed Satellite Tournament organised by O’Trafford Squash Club stroked off on the squash courts of the 81 Division Army Officers Mess in Marina, Lagos.

One of the players, Ogunyemi Taiwo Omotayo, who played at the just concluded National Sports Festival in Abuja, said with more internationally recognised competitions, squash players in Nigeria would be motivated to strive for greater heights.

“I think firstly this tournament is going to help our ranking positions. For me, if I perform well in this tournament, my ranking will move up after adding up my previous scores,” he said.

In the same vein, Iguodala Desmond who played in the men’s qualifying round, believes the game of squash in Nigeria is gradually bouncing back to life as with about four tournaments staged this year alone, a major improvement compared to previous years.

“Most people don’t know about squash, when you tell them you play squash they are confused.

“In Nigeria only few people know about this game and with more awareness through competitions like this, people will key into the game,” he said.

The opening day of the O’Trafford tournament witnessed qualifiers into the main draws as the top ranked squash players secured wide cards into the competition.

Top rated players like Yemisi Olatunji and Lanre Abdulrahman are among the seeded players that will storm the squash courts today as the main contest to clinch the exciting prize money at stake begins.