Doha boosts Olympic claims by landing major squash event

Doha has enhanced its sports event-hosting credentials by agreeing a deal to stage the 2012 World Squash Championship.

The agreement has been reached between the Professional Squash Association (PSA) and the Qatar Squash Federation (QSF) and will see the event held at the Qatari capital's Khalifa International Tennis & Squash Complex from 7th to 14th December.

Qatar will be hosting the event formerly known as the 'World Open' for the third time, having previously staged the premier championship on the PSA World Tour in 1998 and 2004.

PSA Chief Operating Officer, Lee Beachill explained "we have been in discussions with the Qatar Squash Federation for several months and it was the event dates that took some extra time to confirm ï¾ but we are thrilled to finally confirm that our flagship event will once again be going to Qatar.

"QSF have been a huge support to PSA over many years, hosting smaller Challenger events as well as their annual World Series event, the Qatar Classic."

Explaining the the event's title change, Beachill added "the winner is the world champion ï¾ so we decided to drop 'Open' and replace it with 'Championship' for clarity. Most other sports also have a world championship ï¾ we feel it's much more understandable."

Qatar is backing the hosting of major sporting events as part of its bid to stage the 2020 Olympic Games.

Competing against Doha is competing against Baku, Akerbajan; Istanbul, Turkey; Madrid, Spain; Rome, Italy and Tokyo, Japan, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is set to choose a shortlist of candidates on 23rd May before making a final decision on 7th September 2013.

Qatar is also seeking to address a major hurdle in any Olympic hosting bid, its status as one of only three nations to have never sent a women's team to the Olympics.

The Qatar team for the London Olympics will consist of three competitors; in the women's air rifle competition, swimming and athletics.

In spite of its limited heritage in women's sport, Qatar has made female participation in sport a key component of its bid to host the 2020 Games.

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