The decline of squash


ricohflex

Senior Member
Feb 24, 2005
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Used to be a popular sport in Singapore late 70s to late 80s - top local players such as Venkatesan Gopal, Jeremy Yeo, Mah Li Lian, Zainal Abidin, Peter Hill, Stewart Ballard and Tracy Oh.
Now it is dead or dying. Used to play. Actually saw Qamar Zaman play.
Not only dead or dying in Singapore but all over the world as well.

Why?

• Not an Olympic sport. No associated glamour.
• For Singapore, badminton used to win honours for the country - then swimming. Now table tennis - at Olympics.
• Enclosed court allows narrow viewing angle through glass back wall. Not a good spectator sport.
• Severely limits number of people who can see the game live. Cannot get big sponsors like tennis or football or golf.
• Intrinsically dangerous - unlike tennis or badminton, squash players are not separated by a net. Any player who has been accidentally smashed by the other player's racket will know this. If you wear glass spectacles, you can be blinded.
• Cooped up in a small court and breathing all the air that is not well ventilated.
• Is physically very taxing.
• Locally there is a decrease in squash court facilities; many demolished - logical since the sport is dead or dying.
• Young generation no longer interested in this.
• More alternative sports facilities for newer sports like ice hockey and sea sports.
• Not associated with upward mobility - unlike golf or yachting.
 

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So are "go lee", catch spider, zero point, table soccer, and hantam bola. Why har?
 

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pardon me, but I think squash is an uninteresting spectator sport. It is like 2 person in a room hitting the ball against the wall.
 

Kampong games is looked down by high nose.... miw? Lol.....

lol everything also connect to miw...

malaysia also not popular, but they got world champion.
 

Uncle Ricoh, is it while playing squash that you kana wham in the head by the ricocheting ball from a wall?

That's why your brain now process in some funky fuzzy logic?
 

Squash is more boring than Tennis.

Tennis - drama + fashion + eye candy + sports

Squash less atas than Golf - same size ball but not so glam

Squash less exciting than Football - 2 ppl vs 22 ppl chasing a ball. And harder for referee to kayu/kelong in squash.

I saw a friend's condo, from the 1980s. It had 2 squash courts, and 1 was already fully sealed up and rewired to become a 2nd gym. The other one remains unused except for the cleaner who comes in and swings her mop around.

Good bye squash. I never liked you, i won't miss you.
 

Well...if 1 person can win 7 world champion in a roll....there is nothing much left for the rest in the pass 7 years....don't get me wrong....I actually impressed by Nicole David's work ethic. ....just that she is on different category......like Barcelona and Real Madrid.....no one else can win La Liga.....so it's good for their supporters but not good for neutrals...
 

I thought they say we need the kampong spirit?

Kampong spirit???

Ya... well.... he who destroyed that spirit is telling it is our fault once again.....

Ok... Provision shops is one of the point of kampong spirit... where family run business become a link to the community....

Now... mostly replaced by impersonal 7-11, Cheers whose stuffs are changed and are not permanent... so how does the kampong spirit grow????
 

pardon me, but I think squash is an uninteresting spectator sport. It is like 2 person in a room hitting the ball against the wall.

True. it is not a good spectator sport if you can only see 2 person's back :(

images


It is the facial expression of the players that make a sport interesting. You can't see their face from the back.
 

Shizuma said:
Squash is more boring than Tennis.

Tennis - drama + fashion + eye candy + sports

Squash less atas than Golf - same size ball but not so glam

Squash less exciting than Football - 2 ppl vs 22 ppl chasing a ball. And harder for referee to kayu/kelong in squash.

I saw a friend's condo, from the 1980s. It had 2 squash courts, and 1 was already fully sealed up and rewired to become a 2nd gym. The other one remains unused except for the cleaner who comes in and swings her mop around.

Good bye squash. I never liked you, i won't miss you.

When a friend introduced squash in the 70, I did say the same. Why play against the wall. Those who think this is a boring game, do give it a try before you conclude.

Why then it is has so little interest today? Of course the limited audiences play an important part. I would say this game requires intense energy to play. If you are not fit, you are unlikely to be able to enjoy this game unlike badminton or tennis.

It is not all cons about this game. You don't need 2 players to enjoy and you can play rain or shine. For a mere 1/2 hour or so, you get a good work out you can achieve in many others activities. It takes up little space, little maintenance and thus cheap to play the game.

Schools should promote it.
 

Used to be a popular sport in Singapore late 70s to late 80s - top local players such as Venkatesan Gopal, Jeremy Yeo, Mah Li Lian, Zainal Abidin, Peter Hill, Stewart Ballard and Tracy Oh.
Now it is dead or dying. Used to play. Actually saw Qamar Zaman play.
Not only dead or dying in Singapore but all over the world as well.

Why?

• Not an Olympic sport. No associated glamour.
• For Singapore, badminton used to win honours for the country - then swimming. Now table tennis - at Olympics.
• Enclosed court allows narrow viewing angle through glass back wall. Not a good spectator sport.
• Severely limits number of people who can see the game live. Cannot get big sponsors like tennis or football or golf.
• Intrinsically dangerous - unlike tennis or badminton, squash players are not separated by a net. Any player who has been accidentally smashed by the other player's racket will know this. If you wear glass spectacles, you can be blinded.
• Cooped up in a small court and breathing all the air that is not well ventilated.
• Is physically very taxing.
• Locally there is a decrease in squash court facilities; many demolished - logical since the sport is dead or dying.
• Young generation no longer interested in this.
• More alternative sports facilities for newer sports like ice hockey and sea sports.
• Not associated with upward mobility - unlike golf or yachting.

there's also lim seok hui.
 

i read that Squash is a dangerous sport too. the intensity would trriger heart attack.. anybody?

However, some studies have implicated squash as a cause of possible fatal cardiac arrhythmia and argued that squash is an inappropriate form of exercise for older men with heart disease.[SUP][10][/SUP]

Squash (sport) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

lol
even the super fit football players have collapsed and died on the pitch, what more older, less fit ppl?
 

Yutaka Go said:
True. it is not a good spectator sport if you can only see 2 person's back :(

It is the facial expression of the players that make a sport interesting. You can't see their face from the back.

Yes not a gd spectator sports means no sponsors, no organised competition, etc... mean no growth potential.

Sports is a biz.

Same as why marathons are so popular now.
Everyone wears co. tee, run on streets, best promo..
 

i like playing squash, and i am not good at it or that fit. have not been injured by the game either.

it's a pity that it's not that popular, and that the Singapore Sports Council has not invested as much into the sport as our neighbour. We used to rule the courts as South East Asian kingpins of the game, now all that is ancient history.
 

i read that Squash is a dangerous sport too. the intensity would trriger heart attack.. anybody?

However, some studies have implicated squash as a cause of possible fatal cardiac arrhythmia and argued that squash is an inappropriate form of exercise for older men with heart disease.[SUP][10][/SUP]

Squash (sport) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Those who play golf kena strike by lightning, out door sports are more dangerous

Man struck by lightning while playing golf
 

zaren said:
i like playing squash, and i am not good at it or that fit. have not been injured by the game either.

it's a pity that it's not that popular, and that the Singapore Sports Council has not invested as much into the sport as our neighbour. We used to rule the courts as South East Asian kingpins of the game, now all that is ancient history.

Among others, it is not a glamorous sport like tennis where only rich and ANG moh plays. Squash was at its peak when England and Australia players were winning. Same as badminton. Tennis today is still very ANG moh. Soon when it was won by imported Chinese, the game will loose its appeal.

So if you want to keep the sport alive, don't win all the trophies. Give others a chance to win lah.