Squash, more than just leisure game

Park Eun-ok, South Korean national squash team player, at the Yeolumul Tennis Stadium on Sept. 2. / Korea Times photo by Jhoo Dong-chan

This is the third in a series of stories that will introduce unique or relatively unknown sports to be featured at the Incheon Asian Games. ― ED.

By Baek Byung-yeul

For many, squash is simply a leisure sport, which many of people enjoy playing for fun. Many people here also partake in the activity to stay fit or lose weight.

But the sport is much more than just another leisurely activity for the squash competitors that will compete in the upcoming Asian Games. To fans of the competitive game, it is a back-and-forth, action-packed game, which has led the fast-moving sport to be featured in Asian Games.

Originating from tennis, the biggest difference from other sports using a racket is that the game is played by hitting a ball against a wall against another player, instead of hitting over a net. The sport is played in an indoor court enclosed by four walls.

The racket used in squash is also unique. Similar to the rackets used in soft tennis, another sport that has influenced squash, a squash racket has relatively small face area compared to a tennis racket and uses a small sized-ball.

Although squash has failed to be included in the Olympics, the sport became featured in the Asian Games since the 1998 Bangkok Games. There are four gold medals available -- men and women’s singles and team match.

The fundamental principle of scoring in squash is to keep hitting the ball against the front wall until an opponent cannot return the volley any longer.

A match in squash -- in both single and team play -- is the best of five games. The team that scores 11 points first takes one game.

For much of the national squash team’s existence, Korea has been regarded as weak in the sport compared to world powerhouses such as Malaysia, Pakistan, Hong Kong and India.

The country has sent its delegation to the Asian Games since 1998, but it only obtained two bronze medals in 2002 women’s singles and 2010 women’s team. For the upcoming Incheon Games, a total of eight Koreans-- four men and four women -- will compete.

Park Eun-ok, 36, the eldest among the Korean national squash athletes, said the Incheon Asia will be a chance for more people to come out and enjoy the sport.

“Squash has certain limitations when playing it as it requires a specially-constructed court. A lot more infrastructure to play the game has been built in the country since I first started. Some gyms even have a squash court for people to include in their workout. I am hoping the Incheon Games can attract more Koreans to the game,” she added.

The bronze medalist in 2010 women’s team squash match said their goal in Incheon is “to advance to the final in women’s team match.”

“Incheon Games will be my fifth Asiad and I am gearing up for the team’s first gold ever,” she said. “This would be my last time to join the Asian Games, and I expect that we can reach the finals during the team match portion.”

Korea Times intern reporter Jhoo Dong-chan contributed to this article.