An opportunity beckons India yet again to clinch the Squash World Cup in front of their home crowd. For the third year in a row, Chennai is all set to host the 2025 Squash World Cup.
Apart from the Indian Squash & Triathlon Academy, a few matches will be played on an iconic setting wherein the court is nestled within the Express Avenue Mall. The event, managed by World Squash, has received a lot of praise for the manner in which the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu has worked in conjunction with the Squash Rackets Federation of India.
This edition of the event is a special one as it will feature at least one nation representing one of the continental federations of squash. A total of 12 teams are divided into four pools of three teams each. This expansion is higher than the previous edition which featured eight teams.
The maiden edition of the Squash World Cup in 1996 featured 16 teams. However, since then, the event has not been contested regularly. Australia won the inaugural event, followed by England in 1999. The next two editions were held in 2011 and 2023, both won by Egypt. India bagged the bronze medal in the previous edition and is certainly looking strong to change the color of its medal.
The Squash World Cup is a mixed team event featuring two men and two women. The first men’s singles and the first women’s singles of a tie will be worth two points. The next men’s singles and the women’s singles will be worth one point each. At the end of the tie, the team with the higher points wins. If there is a tie in the tally, the difference in the number of games won and total points won act as tiebreakers.
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The scoring format followed by Squash World Cup changed in the 2023 edition. Each match will be played in the best-of-five games format with the first to seven points winning the game. If the score of a game reaches 6-6, the next point will be sudden death.
The top two teams from each pool qualify for the quarterfinals. India are placed in Pool B alongside Brazil and Switzerland. For the hosts, the path to the playoffs seems relatively easy. Hong Kong begin as favorites in Pool A, with South Africa and South Korea likely to be engaged in a close tussle for the second spot.
Malaysia will rely on the strength of the Azam sisters, who would look to dominate Australia in Pool C. Top 10 player Satoshi Watanabe will spearhead the Japanese side in Pool D, and will face the uphill task of challenging two-time defending champions, Egypt.
For India, veteran star Joshna Chinappa, who recently broke back into the Top 100 at the age of 39 will be in action yet again. Chinappa recently made it to the finals of the Indian Open and the HCL Squash Indian Tour. In both instances young Anahat Singh, a Top 30 player in the world currently, won in five games.
“I’ve seen all of them as kids, and to see how much they’ve grown and how well Abhay, Velavan, and Anahat have been doing on the professional tour has been a very porud moment for Indian squash and very inspiring for us all.” – Joshna Chinappa
Velavan Senthilkumar is another promising player who has established himself as a Top 50 men’s singles player currently. A triple gold medalist at the Asian Championships, Velavan will be joined by the current Indian No.1, Abhay Singh, who is ranked within the Top 30.
“Myself and Joshna have experience at this event, and we have two newcomers in Velavan and Anahat, so its a great team. It is one of the best teams we will possibly have going into the World Cup, so I am quite excited. If we can win gold it will be another talking point for years to come.” – Abhay Singh
The 2025 Squash World Cup begins on 9th December and the playoff matches will begin from 12th December. India’s first tie is scheduled for 9th December at 6 p.m. against Switzerland. In its second tie, it will face Brazil on 11th December at 2.30 p.m.
The winner of Group A will face the runner-up of Group B in the first quarterfinal. In the fourth quarterfinal, the winner of Group B will face the runner-up of Group A. India will most likely face South Africa in the quarterfinals, followed by either Australia, Malaysia, Egypt, or Japan in the semis.
All quarterfinal matches will be held on 12th December.
None of the playoff ties will be held at the Express Avenue Mall. The matches will be streamed live on the Olympics Channel and Worldsquash.tv.
