This weekend Washington will host one of the countries most prestigious Squash Tournaments the second leg of the Women’s International Squash Players Association (WISPA) Tournament in the “Dread Sport Squash Series.”
The action will take place downtown at The Sports Club/LA with the quarterfinals starting at 4p.m. today, the semifinals at 4 p.m. on Saturday and the finals being held on Sunday at noon. Admission is free of charge so you can’t beat the price to see some of the top players in the world like Deepika Pallikal, who is a super star in the sport and one of the favorites to win. She has a huge following and is one of India’s top sports stars.
Squash is a sport that has a very strong fan base in the Washington area and playing in the tournament is an local girl who is one of the sport emerging young star’s. 17 year old Camille Lanier is the number five ranked (junior) women in the USA and the senior at the National Cathedral School looks forward to playing in front of her home town fans this weekend.
We talked about what attracted her to the sport and what makes squash such a challenging sport.
JW: Most young women play tennis. Why squash?
Lanier:”Tennis is a very popular sport and I played it for 4 years myself. One day I just picked up squash because the courts were convenient to my house. Once I started taking lesson squash was just a much more interesting and complex sport to me. I found that squash was more intense and a challenge for me. I loved all the different shots you could make and even create. Also it was a much faster pace then tennis which meant anything could change in the score. You could win easily or if need be you could make a amazing comeback. ”
JW: Explain for those who might not know how squash is played?
Lanier:”To play squash you need two people a racket per person and ball. The goal is to keep the point going without making a mistake. The ball has to hit the front wall below the high line and above the low line(tin). When you serve the ball must go above the middle line and land in the opposite box in which you serve from. The points system is win per point and goes up to 11. If two players reach 10 – 10 then the player has to win by two points. Also in squash you have to learn how to move out quickly and recover to make room for the other player to get your ball. If a person is in your way of a shot you can call and Let or Stroke. Let you replay the point and stroke is when the point is given to the player who could not have hit the ball because the player was in the way of the swing.”
JW: So you get to play in front of the home crowd this week.
Lanier:”I am both excited but nervous to play this tournament. Because of the college process I’m in the middle of squash has not been my top priority. I’m just looking to gain experience, have a good time, and play my best.”
This has been a very busy time for Lanier who is like most young women and men her age on the “college tour” and she hopes to find a university with a top notch squash team.
Once again the tournament will be going on all weekend and admission is free.
