N Ramachandran, president of the World Squash Federation, has praised the sport's athletes, the men's Professional Squash Association and the Women's Squash Association for their contribution to initiatives over the past two months aimed at boosting squash's chances of joining the Olympic Games sports programme in 2020.

Speaking after the flagship ATCO World Series Squash Finals, which were played at The Queen's Club in west London last week, Ramachandran claimed that real momentum had been generated.

He said: "Squash has enjoyed a tremendous recent run - beginning with the successful IOC inspection visit to the Hong Kong Open early in December, and followed shortly afterwards by our presentation to the IOC Programme Commission in Lausanne.

"And last weekend we were not only treated to the best live TV coverage of the sport I have ever seen, on Sky and Eurosport, but also an avalanche of positive press coverage around the world - all of which is inspiring me to feel that we have made huge progress since our last Olympic bid four years ago."

The WSF has been working hard to improve the televisual aspect of squash, with Ramachandran noting: "The clarity of the ball, the regular use of super slow mos, and the introduction of 'video reviews' have all contributed towards a television 'product' which is streets ahead of what we were used to in the past.

"And this was endorsed by new broadcasters adding squash to their programming this weekend, expanding our reach to a potential worldwide audience of more than 300 million."

Squash is competing against wushu, karate, sport climbing, roller sports, wakeboard and a joint bid from softball and baseball to join the Olympics programme in 2020, with a final decision to be made in September.

Sportcal