Huge demand means finals already sold out

Tickets for the men’s and women’s finals of The Hi-Tec World Squash Championships - Manchester 2008 on Sunday 19th October have sold out with only limited numbers of seats still available for the semi-finals.

Demand for tickets to the Championships, which get underway this Saturday (11th October) with the qualifying rounds which are free to the public, have also resulted in all hospitality packages for the finals being sold out.

With both the men’s and women’s World Opens running concurrently at the National Squash Centre in Manchester’s Sportcity, the nine day tournament will see the leading 64 men and top 32 women in action in what promises to be the biggest squash tournament ever staged.

Amr Shabana of Egypt and Nicol David of Malaysia will be favourites to retain their titles but there will be no shortage of home grown players on show with no fewer than 17 British players guaranteed to line up for the knock out stages, and tickets are still available to see all the action up to and including the semi-finals but fans are advised to purchase soon as numbers are becoming limited.

There will also be a strong presence of players from the north west, including National Squash Centre coach and world number 12 Vicky Botwright, who will be retiring from the elite level after the Championships and Cheshire’s Sarah Kippax, the official ambassador of The Hi-Tec World Squash Championships.

Photos: The showcourt and seating being set up in the main arena