Squash will make Olympic cut, insists new WSF chief

CHENNAI: N Ramachandran's desire to see his beloved sport enter the Olympic family has grown stronger with his re-election as the president of the World Squash Federation (WSF) for a second term earlier this month.
In 2008, Ramachandran took over from squash legend Jahangir Khan as the president and was only a week into the job when they had to convince the International Olympic Committee (IOC) of the merits of including squash.By his own admission, he was 'the new kid on the block' then and the convincing wasn't enough to seal the spot for squash.
"We had done well but apparently the IOC did not agree with us and we could only watch as rugby sevens and golf made the cut," he said on Friday. There was a lesson there: make the game more spectator and TV-friendly. "Olympic big money and television rules the roost. We had to embrace this fact and show them that there could be good TV coverage even in squash."
Thus came in the idea of glass courts, high-definition cameras, online streaming. "All-glass courts mean we can even advertise and thus bring in more revenue for the game."
But four years down the line, does he still feel that squash will make the cut this time around? "Absolutely," he said.
"We have a very strong case and the vibes from the IOC are positive."
The first test will be at the Hong Kong Squash Open in November when an IOC delegation will inspect the new features and facilities at the event.
He is so serious about it that Ramachandran has even called for more tight doping controls, an issue that has gained more significance with the Lance Armstrong case.