The May 31 wire services report from St. Petersburg, Russia, titled "Wrestling faces off with baseball, squash in bid to return to Olympics," makes much of the chances for wrestling and baseball/softball being shortlisted for inclusion in future Olympic Games, but barely mentions the third contender — squash.
Yet not just in Japan, but worldwide, squash is by far the most popular of the three, with well-established squash leagues in much of Southeast Asia, South Asia, Oceania, the United States, United Kingdom and much of Europe.
In Japan alone, there are some 100,000 registered players and 450 squash courts. As a sport that tests both mental and physical skill, which can be played by people of all ages and needs only basic facilities, it deserves as much if not more recognition than many other standard Olympic sports. To date it has lacked only the PR abilities to bring it to the attention of the Olympic bureaucracy.
The opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are the writer's own and do not necessarily reflect the policies of The Japan Times.
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