2008 World Doubles/Can-Am Cup to Return in 2008

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By Mike McGorry

US Squash and Squash Canada have announced the reformation of the traditional biannually held World Doubles tournament. This new event was created, in part, due to the belief that the present format of the World Doubles had lost much of its allure and had become somewhat of a secondary event to the US and Canadian Doubles Championships. In addition, the size of the old event precluded anyone other than Philadelphia and Toronto (the two cities with the most number of doubles courts) from hosting the event.

The new version has two separate and distinct components:

1. The Open World Doubles—a draw of 16 Open teams for the men with both players on each team having the same citizenship and comprised of the top ISDA professionals. The Same qualifications would apply for the Women with the draw limited to eight teams. Prize money of at least $25,000.00 for the Men and $10,000.00 for the Women.

2. Can-Am Cup—a team competition between the US and Canada with two teams from each country selected in the following age groups: Open (cannot have played in more than 50% of the ISDA events), 40+, 45+, 50+, 55+, 60+, 65+ and 70+ for the Men and Open, 40+ and 50+ for the Women. Players are selected based upon their standing from the prior year’s final North American Rankings. The top two American right and left wallers in each of the above referenced categories earn the right to compete for their country in a round-robin format against their counterparts from Canada, who are selected in an identical manner. The Team captains from the US and Canadian teams shall have three “Captain’s choices” to insert a player or team of their choosing into the event when one or more of the top two ranked players on each wall are unable to play. In this regard, and except where the “Captain’s Choice” comes into play, the players representing each of the countries will be the best players from each country as evidenced by the prior year’s rankings.

It has been proposed that this event be played on the last weekend of October of 2008 and rotate on the same weekend, every two years, between the United States and Canada. Given the new format, it is believed that any city with four or more doubles squash courts will be able to host this event. It is also hoped that by placing emphasis for being selected on the rankings, that it will promote play in regional, invitational and National events.