Zed Squash Stories
A roundup of some of the happenings around the CIB Zed Squash Open …
#4 : Build your Venue
Promoters in Egypt do it like nowhere else – in most parts of the world if you’re putting on a squash tournament you look around for a suitable venue that you can install a squash court, seating, and maybe some retail and entertainment areas. Think Canary Wharf, Tournament of Champions, British Open, and many sports hall / theatre / public area based venues.
In Egypt it seems that – apart from Black Ball which has everything built in anyway – you find a bit of land – preferably in or next to a Club, Compound, Marina or other spectacular feature – and build yourself an ampitheatre style setting from scratch. Think Pyramids, El Gouna, World Tour Finals, World Champs, and now Zed. They’re all immense undertakings and all very impressive.
If we compare the first El Gouna setting to what it is now the difference is astounding. And Zed has started with something that’s a little like a mini El Gouna or this year’s World Champs (that was massive). Can’t wait to see where Omar Abdel Aziz takes it in future years …
#3 : Meet … Yourself
The Zed Squash Arena has been constructed inside Zed Park, and if any spectators have trouble finding it there are cardboard cutouts of some of the top players leading the way, a nice touch.
The models are about 80% life size, as you can see from those we managed to pair up with their real-fife counterparts.
#2 : The Ferris Wheel
The Zed Park has a host of facilities, including a large children’s play area, the highlight of which is the Ferris Wheel, which lights up spectacularly at night, and from the far left corner of the front wall provides some cool backgrounds …
#1 : Development …
The Novotel tournament hotel is next door to a Hospital, and 200m down from the main dual carraigeway with the Mall of Arabia (venue for the World Tour Finals) on the other side.
Here’s a view from the bridge crossing the road from 2019, and today, looking towards that bridge …
Wonder what it will look like in 2025 ??
