Hong Kong Football Club chief lauds ‘long-term target’ of securing Squash World Team Championships
- Neil Jensen says event showcases another signal the city continues to bounce back after Covid-19 pandemic
- Birmingham was in frame to host combined WSF World Team Championships but city’s council decided against the idea
Hong Kong Football Club chairman Neil Jensen said his club was realising a long-term goal by landing the rights to host the squash World Team Championships in December.
Both men’s and women’s events will be held at the Happy Valley club, and Jensen said it was another sign of the city’s continued revival after the Covid-19 pandemic.
The World Squash Federation awarded HKFC the rights to host the championships after council officials in the UK city of Birmingham, which is effectively bankrupt, withdrew from the running.
“We want to put on the best tournaments we can,” Jensen said. “We were keen to do this a couple of years ago but I believe it was New Zealand that got it in the end [with the men’s World Team Championships in Tauranga] last year.
“So this wasn’t something new for us but we’ve talked about it for quite a while.”
Jensen added: “World Squash came to us because we had expressed interest a couple of years ago and we made a very, very quick decision.
