Top players call for change in PSA calendar

New Delhi: A spate of injuries resulting from a crammed PSA calendar has prompted some of the leading

squash players of the world to call for a change in scheduling of the events. Many top players including world number one Ramy Ashour and Karim Darwish of Egypt, Gregory Gaultier of France and England`s Adrian Grant sustained injuries during last week`s World Open in Saudi Arabia. The injuries resulted in a depleted field in the USD 1,92,500 Punj Lloyd PSA Masters, the 10th and final PSA Super Series squash event of the year, currently underway at the Siri Fort Sports Complex here. While Ashour, Darwish and Gaultier suffered hamstring injuries, Grant was forced to withdraw from the event due to a a torn abductor. "It`s better to play one big tournament in a month rather than 7-8 in the eight weeks or so. Presently, this is what is happening and that needs to be looked into by PSA officials. In the Saudi Open, many players got injured, some injuries were freakish. So you need to re-schedule the calendar," said third seed and world ranked sixth Amr Shabana of Egypt. "The calendar is too crammed and PSA should work in this direction to make the events adjustable. It becomes too hectic for players. Our sport is of very demanding nature resulting in injuries to players and this is not good at all.” "My son James Willstrop has been in Leeds for just four days since September 27 as he is travelling from one destination to another. So it`s too hectic scheduling," said Malcolm Willstrop, India`s top player Saurav Ghosal`s coach. World number 22 Ghosal said that the last three months were very taxiing as he got very little time to be at home. "It`s been a hard year for me travelling from one place to another. We had a very hectic schedule, let`s say last three months. PSA needs to look into it," the 25-year-old said. PSA COO Lee Beachill said, "It`s never good that the top players get injured. PSA is trying to look into it." PSA Tour Executive, Sheila Cooksley, had earlier said in a statement: "We are all very disappointed, of course, that the Punj Lloyd PSA Masters has lost three of its top seeds in the past few days." "It just shows how tough this game of ours is and, as with all sports, injuries come at the most unlikely times and it is devastating for the three of them," added Cooksley. PTI