Broadgate the new Wembley?

The perfect venue writes Squashherts

 This year I received my tickets for the SuperSeries Squash Finals 2 days after ordering them online from the SquashPlayer website. I had asked a few players at the club if they would like to come along but most preferred to play rather than watch. John and I set off for Wembley early, as play started at 5pm.

 In the 70's it seemed that "everyone" went to watch the World's best squash players in action at Wembley. The British Open was an annual pilgrimage that always took place in April. One year I applied a few weeks late and the SRA wrote saying all the tickets had gone. All that was left was a free ticket to the press & players room, where I could watch the action live on a large display screen.

 Feeling hugely disappointed and let down I reluctantly decided to make my way from northern Hertfordshire into the busy urban setting of Wembley. Sadly I had to put up with all the "also rans" sitting next to me and commenting on the Final - Mohibullah Khan and what seemed like most of the Khan family, Qamar Zaman, Hiddy Jehan and I think Ken Hiscoe. These were the players from around the world who were not quite good enough to make it to the final against Geof Hunt of Australia. So maybe watching the Final free and listening to these "also rans" commenting on whether that 100 stroke opening rally really was a good tactic for Hunt or his opponent, wasn't all that bad. At least I had absorbed a sufficient "fix" of squash atmosphere, to keep me going and playing for another year - when I would be back. Maybe. DEFINITELY !

Wednesday 12 noon
Off to Broadgate - where?

Everyone knows where Broadgate is, right? So after checking on the web, I also now know it is on the edge of London City, near Petticoat Lane. I looked up the Order of Play on the web:

5pm: Lincou v Shabana, Nicol v Power, Beachill v Kneipp, Mathew v White.

That looked pretty impressive. The line-up included the top 8 players in the world - it felt a little like Wembley again. I had not seen Power playing live and it was with a certain level of anticipation that I looked forward to the evening's play.

One of England's top referees sent me an email about the previous Tuesday nights play and without naming names, there had been an altercation between the referee and players, followed by a stand-up row with a non-English reporter. Seemed good and getting more interesting still.

The rest is history. Day THREE stories from Framboise
Player Profiles and event History.

Power broke his foot after a thrilling match with Nicol. Beachill was a father 3 days before, so bowed out to Kneipp. White looked as though he could blast his opponent off court with sheer power, so he did. Lincou played controlled, professional, sensible squash, doing just enough to beat Shabana. Even the new scoring system to 11 points did not ruin my enjoyment of the game.

Is Broadgate the new Wembley?

Maybe not but it comes pretty close and I'll be back next year. But shhh don't tell anyone about the SuperSeries at Broadgate. I don't want to watch from the Press/Players room again.