Squash

Squash is a ball sport played by two (singles) or four players (doubles) in a four-walled court with a small, hollow rubber ball. The players must alternate in striking the ball with their racket and hit the ball onto the playable surfaces of the four walls of the court. The game was formerly called squash rackets, a reference to the "squashable" soft ball used in the game. Whilst squash isn’t currently an Olympic sport, its pinnacle comes in the form of the Squash World Championships where the best players from around the world compete to be the ultimate squash champion. The object of the game is hit the ball off the back wall until you manage to make your opponent fail in returning the ball. Every time you do so you will receive a point. Points make up sets, which in turn determine the winner of the match. The governing body of Squash, the World Squash Federation (WSF) is recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), but the sport is not part of the Olympic Games, despite a number of applications.

Players & Equipment: Squash is played between two people in a box like room. All that is needed is a squash racket (similar to a tennis racket but smaller head size) and a squash ball. The squash ball is around 2 and a half inches in diameter and made from rubber.

The court: The squash court is a playing surface surrounded by four walls. The court surface contains a front line separating the front and back of the court and a half court line, separating the left and right hand sides of the back portion of the court, creating three 'boxes': the front half, the back left quarter and the back right quarter. Both the back two boxes contain smaller service boxes. The floor-markings on a squash court are only relevant during serves.

Scoring: Scoring a point can come one of 4 ways: the ball bounces twice before your opponent hits the ball, the ball hits the back board (or net), the ball goes outside the outline or a player causes interference purposely to prevent their opponents from getting the ball. There are two methods of scoring Squash. The first is called ‘PAR’ where you play first to 11 points and you can score a point from either yours or your opponents serve. The second is a more traditional style where you play first to 9 points but can only score points off your own serve. The 11 point PAR scoring system is now the official scoring system in professional ranks and the majority of amateur games.

Rules of Squash:

1. Games can be played by either two (singles) or four (doubles) players at one time.
2. You must hit the ball with your racket within the boundaries on the back wall.
3. The ball can hit the side wall at any time as long as at some point it hits the back wall.
4. A let is called when a player accidently gets in their opponents way and is unable to get out the way.
5. A foul is called if the player purposely tries to get in the way of their opponent.
6. If a game gets to 10-10 then a player must win by two clear points to win that game.
7. You cannot hit the ball twice and you cannot carry the ball.
8. When serving one foot must be within the service box; the same goes for your opponent.
9. Upon returning a serve you may hit the ball on the volley or after it bounces.
10. The speed of balls are determined by number and colours of small spots on the ball:

• Double Yellow = Extra Super slow for competitions
• Yellow = Super slow
• Green or White = Slow
• Red = Medium
• Blue = Fast

Squash in India: Squash is a popular recreational sport in India, and is gaining popularity as a competitive sport. The national governing body for squash in India is the Squash Rackets Federation of India. It conducts the National Squash Championship, and promotes the game through the different state level squash bodies, and provides training facilities and selects the squad for the Indian team. The India men's national squash team has participated in three quarter finals of the World Team Squash Championships since 1967.

For the Squash Tournament’s Calender visit: tournament calender