Hi-Tec Sports has been announced as title sponsor of the Hi-Tec
World Squash Championships which will take place in Manchester in
October 2008. Hi-Tec will work in partnership with Manchester
City Council, England Squash, UK Sport, the Northwest Regional
Development Agency (NWDA), Dunlop Sport, the Manchester Evening
News and Sportdiscount.com to deliver the nine-day event, which is
expected to attract the world’s top sixty-four players in the Men’s
Championship and the leading thirty-two players in the Women’s
Championship, with representation from forty countries.
Squash has experienced a welcome resurgence in recent years, and
with six British players in the top twenty world rankings, the
opportunity for Manchester to host this prestigious event will go a
long way in ensuring the continuing visibility and growth of the
sport in Great Britain.
Event title sponsor Hi-Tec has a proud heritage of sponsoring
top-class sporting events and boasts a broad portfolio which
includes golf and badminton events as well as the National Squash
Championships, the British Open and now the World Squash
Championships.
Hi-Tec’s original success grew from the breakthrough design and
development of the first ever shoe designed for the sport.
Launched in 1974 the HI-TEC Squash has gone on to sell over 18
million pairs worldwide.
Their new collection, backed by the latest in independent
biomechanical research and development, sees the brand launch the
best Squash performance shoes in the world which will coincide with
the Hi-Tec World Squash Championships – Manchester 2008.
Frank van Wezel, Chairman of Hi-Tec Sports and Life Vice
President of England Squash, commented on the sponsorship
announcement: “In 1974 Hi-Tec produced the world’s first ever
sports shoe designed specifically for the game of squash. In
the 32 years since the HI-TEC Squash was born, Hi-Tec has been at
the forefront of the game both in terms of product innovation and
sponsorship of the game from the grass roots through to the
professional game. I am extremely proud that Hi-Tec is the
title sponsor of the 2008 World Championships and I believe that
Manchester will provide a tournament which will make the squash
world proud.”
Manchester will be the first city in the UK to host a combined
Men’s and Women’s World Squash Championship and the tournament will
be held at the world renowned National Squash Centre at Sportcity
from 11-19 October 2008. The facility houses six traditional
glass-backed courts on which qualifying rounds will be played
before the attention switches to the all-glass championship court
for the latter stages. Manchester will expect to host the
most competitive field ever for a World Championships and this is
likely to include British number one James Willstrop and reigning
world number one Amr Shabana from Egypt.
- ENDS-
For further information about the Hi-Tec World Squash Championships
– Manchester 2008 please contact the Event Press Office at
Capitalize:
Daniel Krendel
Telephone: 020 7940 1733 / 020 7940 1700
Mobile: 07815 805 633
E-mail: dkrendel@capitalize.co.uk
Jonathon Bates
Telephone: 020 7940 1708 / 020 7940 1700
Mobile: 07825 427 461
E-mail: jbates@capitalize.co.uk