dropshot - having followed squash players for many years including times when players did not reach their peak till much later, eg  in their early thirties, to when squash players started in their mid twenties, then to the development of juniors from about ten years old, there are some obvious predictions with respect to their longevity in the game.

Just looking at Zac Alexander as a current example. He is a talented young fellow, did not really start training physically until he entered the AIS about 3 years ago, is of lean body mass, highly skilled,and now heading towards 20 is rising through the minor pro tournaments.  Last year he sustained a couple of niggling injuries, and instead of powering on trying to go through this, he was put back to more gym work to build up before going into a more rigorous pro circuit.  This young man is still maturing, still growing, still developing and to push the body beyond its physical capabilities could mean the loss of a lot of talent too soon.  It is a fine line.

Going back to the longevity factor.  We have good players who did not start till 30 and now at 60 are winning Masters events and stayed in the game playing regularly and competing seriously for 30 years, still fit, and playing a good solid game, and enjoying it. Will our current pro bunch still be playing at 60? I very much doubt it.

Ramy has time to have a good layoff which might seem a waste of time, but under these circumstances there may be no choice but to take a year off.  A very diffcult decision to stand aside, take a back seat, and watch a ranking drop down.  Stewart Boswell did it with a back injury, and I am sure there are others; Stewart has taken at least 2 years to get back that loss of form.  The hard decision is to either retire early or climb back after the layoff and try to catch up.

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Ramy Ashour injured A G A I N ... that's anoher topic, though ...

3 out of four Quarter-final matches in Hong Kong were influenced by retirement/ injuries... Squash becomes really taxing regarding health state ...

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The semis are coming up with Amr Shabana to play  Gregory Gaultier.

Nicol David and Rachael Grinham to meet in the Womens Final.

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Ramy Ashour (EGY) retires injured in Cathay Pacific quarter finals.

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