Equal Prize Money Confirmed For 2017 Allam British Open by Nathan Clarke
photo PSA
December 19, 2016
- Female players will earn the same prize money as their male
counterparts for the first time in the history of the prestigious Allam
British Open when the 2017 iteration of squash's oldest and most
established tournament gets underway next March.
Taking place at the Airco Arena, Hull from March 19-26 the iconic
'Wimbledon of Squash', which in 2017 will be co-promoted between
England Squash and the Professional Squash Association, will bring
together over 120 of the best male and female players from around the
world to compete for the sought after title - which has been contested
since the 1920s.
The move to equal prize money, with $150,000 on offer in both the men's
and women's draws, sees the Allam British Open become the first major
British squash tournament ever to offer financial parity to
competitors. While it becomes the fourth tournament on the PSA World
Series, after the U.S. Open (2013) Windy City Open (2015) and
Tournament of Champions (2016) to reach parity.
“Squash is one of only a few sports in which women and men compete in
the same event at the same time, under the same rules, scoring system
and size of playing surface,” said England Squash CEO Keir Worth.
"We’re extremely proud that the 2017 Allam British Open is going to be
a showcase for equality in sport as well as for world class squash.”
Professional Squash Association Chief Executive Alex Gough said;
"Across the PSA Word Tour we have made great strides towards increasing
gender equality since integrating the Women's Tour in 2015 and today's
announcement further underlines our commitment to achieving parity.
"Since the U.S. Open became the first major PSA World Series tournament
to achieve parity in 2013 we have been steadily working towards
levelling the playing field between men and women. To see the British
Open join the U.S. Open, Windy City Open, Tournament of Champions and
PSA World Series Finals in offering equal prize money is a great moment
for the sport.
"With the 2017 Men's and Women's World Championships, taking place in
Manchester In December 2017, also committing to equal prize money we
hope these steps will also demonstrate to young girls and aspiring
players who want a career in sport that squash offers a genuine
opportunity to compete and earn on a level playing field with men."
Steve Forster commented: “On behalf of Dr Allam and the Allam family,
we are honoured to continue our sponsorship of the event and we are
proud that our legacy of the event is that men and women will be
rewarded equally. Dr Allam believes that this sets the bar for other
tournaments around the world.”
The 2017 Allam British Open will take place at the Airco Arena, Hull
from March 19-26. Ticket details will be confirmed in January via
englandsquash.com and psaworldtour.com
