Squash was once again put aside as the 2020 Tokyo Olympics management continued to overlook the sport in favour of five other new sports.
Based on the announcement made earlier today, the five sports that have been included are baseball/softball, skateboarding, sports climbing, karate and skiing.
Squash, along with bowling and wushu were rejected in the final rounds of the decision.
According to the new rules, 2020 Tokyo Organizing Committee has the permission to pick sports they would love to include in the Olympics, although the final word is in the hands of International Olympic Committee (IOC), who will vote on their suggestions next year.
Malaysian squash queen Nicol David has been vigorously campaigning for the inclusion of squash for the past few years – even claiming that she was more than willing to sacrifice all her eight world championship titles for a shot at an Olympic gold medal.
WHAT DO WE THINK?
For Malaysians, this news will come as a huge disappointment. As we all know, Nicol David is one of our best athletes around and if squash is included in the Olympics, then we can be sure of a gold medal for the nation. Nicol’s efforts so far has all been unnoticed and it seems unlikely that she will be able to wait much longer before age finally catches up to her. Squash’s bid to be included in the Olympics will continue, but it now looks very unlikely that Nicol would ever compete in one.
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