The 2021 WSF World Doubles Squash Championships – originally scheduled to take place in July of this year – have been postponed due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.
The event was due to be held on the Gold Coast in Australia between July 1-5 but the WSF Board of Directors and Squash Australia have taken the decision to postpone the tournament until a later date due to the ongoing impact of COVID-19 on international travel as well as the health and safety issues arising from the pandemic.
The World Doubles was last held in 2019 in Carrara, Australia and saw Australia dominate with gold medal wins across the men’s, women’s and mixed events. Donna Lobban and Cameron Pilley took two gold medals each, while Ryan Cuskelly and Christine Nunn were also on the winner’s podium.
“We’re extremely disappointed to be postponing the WSF World Doubles Squash Championships, but the health and safety of everyone attending and competing is an absolute priority,” said WSF Chief Executive William Louis-Marie.
“While the COVID-19 pandemic has undoubtedly had an impact on our regular calendar of events, we are still looking forward to a strong end to the year and have multiple world-class events in the pipeline.”
Squash Australia Chief Executive Robert Donaghue said: “It’s a difficult decision to postpone the WSF World Doubles Squash Championships, but there are a number of challenges resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic which make hosting an event of this stature very challenging at present.
“The Doubles Championships feature athletes from across the globe and we have chosen to postpone the tournament with a view to rescheduling for a different date once the situation surrounding international travel becomes clearer, while we also want to mitigate against any potential health and safety issues. Squash Australia and the World Squash Federation remain in close contact and we hope to be able to announce alternative dates during the 2021/22 calendar in due course.”
