BUENOS AIRES: Squash may have the odds stacked against it in the race to become an Olympic sport at the 2020 Summer Olympics but their irrepressible federation president Narayana Ramachandran (pictured) said in Buenos Aires he remains an eternal optimist.
Squash has been trying to become an Olympic sport for 10 years and wae desperately unlucky in 2005 in Singapore where they topped the sports list to be put on the 2012 Games programme only to lack the two thirds majority - now it is by majority vote.
Having again failed in 2009 - shortly after Ramachandran took over - they have put on an effective campaign under their Indian president’s aegis this time round.
However, the great barrier or seemingly so to their accession to the Games for the first time is wrestling - the third one in the mix baseball/softball isn’t seen as a realistic contender.
The uproar that greeted wrestling’s dropping from the programme in February allied to the sweeping reforms introduced by their new president Nenad Lalovic have placed them in a very strong position to regain their place when the 103 International Olympic Committee (IOC) members vote today.
Despite this the extrovert Ramachandran - whose only sporting activity was playing squash till he gave up at the age of 60 - remains focussed on the goal of giving the Olympic Movement a sport that is truly a new one for the Games.
“Irrespective of the odds I’m an eternal optimist,” he said.
“You are here to represent your sport to the IOC members and to let them see how it is now compared to years ago.
“We have turned our sport upside down. The way it is played, in the way it is scored, and how it is broadcast.
“Look we just have 64 athletes (men and women) for an Olympic Games competition and all we need is two glass courts, which are low cost and easy to integrate.”
Ramachandran said all three potential hosts for the 2020 Olympics, who will learn their fate today, would see the squash competition performed in spectacular locations.
“We could set the courts up on the Bosphorous (Istanbul), Ginza (an upmarket district of Tokyo) or in a bull ring (Madrid),” he said.
Ramachandran said that the sport reflected the principles of the IOC.
“The IOC stands for universality. We have had world champions from all five continents. Therefore there would be athletes from countries that normally have low chances of winning medals getting onto the podium.” AFP
