Patron:	YAM Tunku Imran	2002
Emeritus President:	Jahangir Khan	2008
President:	Zena Wooldridge OBE	2020/24
Vice-President:	Karim Darwish	2020/24
Vice-President	Dame Susan Devoy	2022/26
Vice-President:	Debendranath Sarangi	2020/22, 2022/26
Vice-President	Pablo Serna	2016/20, 2020/24

 

HRH PRINCE IMRAN

YAM Tunku Tan-Sri Imran ibni Tuanku Jaafar (His Royal Highness Prince Imran), is the son of the King of Malaysia. A former Squash champion of Malaysia, he served as President of the WSF from 1989 to 1996 and after completion of this maximum term was unanimously elected to be Emeritus President, a role specially created for him as an honour for the great leadership he had provided for the sport. Then at the WSF AGM in 2002 he was unanimously elected as Patron of the Federation.

Prince Imran was educated in the UK at King’s School, Canterbury and read law at Nottingham University before being called to the Bar at Gray’s Inn, London in 1971 and qualifying as a Barrister at Law. He is now Chief Executive Officer of the Antah Group of Companies, which has over 60 subsidiaries and associates, and sits on the board of many Malaysian, Australian and British publicly listed companies.

He is President of the Malaysian German Chamber of Commerce and Industry, President of the Heritage of Malaysia Trust, Director of the Institute of Strategy and International Studies, Chairman of the Young Malaysians Society and a Member of the Malaysian Business Council.

In the sporting arena he is President of the Olympic Council of Malaysia, heading the marketing operation for the 1998 Commonwealth Games, Board Member of the National Sports Council of Malaysia, President of the Malaysian Cricket Association and Chairman of the Foundation for Malaysian Sporting Excellence. He was Malaysia’s first National Squash Champion in 1973 and Chef de Mission to the Malaysian Team at the Seoul Olympics in 1988.

 

JAHANGIR KHAN

Born 10th December 1963. Jahangir started to play Squash at a very young age, coached by his father, Roshan Khan, the 1957 British Open Champion. With this fine pedigree he became arguably the finest Squash player in the history of the sport and one of the greatest sportsmen Pakistan has ever produced.

In Australia in 1979 he became the youngest player ever to win the World Amateur title at the age of 15 years. He followed this by also becoming the youngest winner of the World Open Championship, beating Australia’s Geoff Hunt when still only 17 years old.

Jahangir, whose name means “conqueror of the world”, totally ruled the world of Squash for 14 years. He won the prestigious British Open title for a record 10 times in a row, the World Open 8 times and was unbeaten by any opponent for an incredible 5½ years. During that time he won 555 matches consecutively, one of the longest unbeaten runs by any athlete in top-level professional sport.

Jahangir Khan became a household name, not just in Pakistan, but throughout the world. Not only for his remarkable playing achievements but also for his exemplary conduct and behaviour as champion of the world, always humble both in victory and defeat.

He retired from Squash in 1993 after helping Pakistan to win the World Team Championship in Karachi.

The Government of Pakistan has honoured Jahangir with the awards of Pride of Performance and civil award of Hilal-e-Imtiaz for his achievements in Squash. Also, they recently awarded him with Sportsman of the Millennium.

In 1990 he was elected Chairman of the Professional Squash Association and after his playing career finished he was elected Vice-President of the Pakistan Squash Federation in 1997. He was elected as Vice-President of the World Squash Federation in November 1998 and then from 2002 – 2008 was President of the World Squash Federation. Jahangir became Emeritus President of the WSF in 2008.

ZENA WOOLDRIDGE OBE

Zena Wooldridge OBE has spent her career in University Sport alongside many volunteer roles in multi-sport and particularly squash. Zena played squash and squash57 for over 35 years, including 25 caps for England at masters’ level. She has in the past also been a tournament level referee and level 3 coach.

Zena’s previous non-executive director experience includes the Board of British University Sport, Chair of England Squash (2006-12), President of European Squash (2013-19), and Chair of the Squash Technical Committee for FISU (International University Sport Federation). She was also a member of the successful bid committee for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.

Until October 2020 Zena’s paid job was as Director of Sport at the University of Birmingham, where she led a team of 110 permanent staff and over 100 coaches. She led the business planning and design of over £60m investment in new indoor and outdoor sports facilities, including a multi-sport club with 15,000 members and over one million annual visits, 70% of whom are under 21. It is also the venue for a range of national and international events, including the British Junior Open (since 2018), World University Squash Championships 2018, Commonwealth Games 2022 (squash & hockey) and the 2023 World Blind Sport Games.

Zena has an economics degree from the University of Warwick and a Masters in Sport Management from Loughborough University. She is also a graduate of UK Sport’s International Leadership programme.

Zena received an OBE (Order of the British Empire) in 2009 for Services to Sport.

Other than her love for sport and sport events, Zena’s other interests include contemporary art, hot air ballooning, cycling and walking with friends.

KARIM DARWISH

Karim Darwish is an Egyptian former professional squash player and current Sports Director of Wadi Degla Clubs in Egypt. Former World No.1 and winner of 23 PSA World Tour titles Darwish, who started playing at the age of 7, first joined the professional ranks in March 1999 and, the following year in 2000 saw him winning the World Junior Championship in Milan, without dropping a single game. This achievement was followed by a meteoric rise through the standings, taking just two years to break into the World’s Top 20 at the start of a career that would see him go on to contest 42 tournament finals and compete in 500 world tour matches.

A versatile player, Darwish reached the top ten for the first time in 2003, where he would remain for a combined 118-months or an equivalent of 10 years, with the crowning moment of his career coming in January 2009 when, after winning the PSA World Series Saudi International in December, he topped the world rankings for the first time. He held on to the World No.1 ranking for 11-months during 2009, a year which also saw him crowned PSA Player of the Year.

Darwish also represented Egypt in seven successive World Team championships since 2001, he was the runner-up at the 2008 World Open and 2012 Case Swedish Open; winning the title twice at the 2009 and 2011 World Team Championships.

In 2013 Darwish became the Squash Director for Wadi Degla Clubs managing the Clubs team and winning them the Egyptian National League, in the same year, for the first time in the Club’s history. Following his retirement from professional sports, in November 2014, Darwish joined Wadi Degla Clubs as Sports Director with the ambitious target of putting Wadi Degla Clubs at the pinnacle of all Egyptian Clubs in the twenty sport divisions he oversees.

Today, Darwish remains an influential figure in both Egyptian and international squash. He led Wadi Degla’s successful bid to host the 2014 Women’s World Squash Championship then the 2016 Men`s World Championship. As Tournaments Director, Darwish was successful in hosting what was hailed as the World’s most successful Squash event, and has been the promoter for the CIB World Tour Finals 2019 and 2020.

On 5 December 2020, Darwish was elected as a WSF board member, for the coming four years.

DAME SUSAN DEVOY

Dame Susan Devoy is one of New Zealand’s most celebrated sportswomen, volunteer and advocate. Awarded a CBE and MBE she was made a Dame in 1998 for her services to sport in NZ these include her achievements as a world champion for four years, but also her work as chair of the Halberg Foundation for 12 years and the leadership she showed as a patron of the Muscular Dystrophy Assn when she walked the length of NZ in 1988 to raise $500,000 for research and support networks.

Dame Susan was the Race Relations Commissioner for five years and throughout her tenure she was known for her empathy with people and her ability to relate to all people, respecting and learning their rituals, beliefs, challenges and issues. This focus, with people at the centre, is valuable to us in a scientific and environmentally focused strategic view.

Known for her practical and common-sense approach, Dame Susan brings an outside view, an approach that is direct and questioning. Her experience as a CEO and chairperson of large entities alongside her many achievements, brings a wide governance overview to application, commitment, dedication, planning and delivery.

DEBENDRANATH SARANGI

Born on 1st January 1953, Debendranath Sarangi joined India’s premier civil service in 1977 after qualifying through competitive examination. After a long 35 years of service occupying various important positions in the higher echelons involving decision making, he retired as the civil service head in the southern Indian state of Tamilnadu in 2012. Post retirement, Sarangi has joined a few Boards of well-known Indian companies as a Director.

Sarangi played squash at college level. His deep interest in and commitment to the sport helped him to shoulder the responsibility of Sports Administrator. He became the President of Squash Racket Federation of India in 2015 and still continues in this position. He was elected as the Vice President of Asian Squash Federation for the period 2017-2021 and as a Member to the Ethics Commission of World Squash Federation for the period 2017-2021.

Besides squash, Sarangi has been a sitting Member of the Ethics Committee of Asian Swimming Federation and Olympic Council of Asia. He is also the Chairman of Audit Committee in FINA ( International Swimming Federation) for the period 2017-2021.

PABLO SERNA

Pablo Serna has been involved in squash for almost 30 years, having started as a junior player in 1988.

He has been President of Colombian Squash Federation since November 2011. During his tenure as President, Colombian Squash have achieved their best ever international results – five times South American Junior Championship winners, two Gold medals at the Pan-American Games, several continental Gold medals (both junior and senior) and having a player as high as the top four in the PSA world rankings.

Pablo Serna holds a Master in Management of Sports Organisations, MEMO’s, recently achieved in Lausanne supported by the Olympic Solidarity and International Olympic Committee.

He is a founding partner, and current board member of SQUASH URBANO COLOMBIA, the first social programme combining education and squash for low-income kids in Colombia.

In business, he founded SPOT Investments, a financial services firm that advises on private equity and capital raise transactions in different countries around the world. Before this he served as a Senior Manager at Dynamic Decisions Group Ltd. in Milan, Italy from September 2001 to 2005, where he led the corporate finance team.

Prior to joining Dynamic Decisions, he served as an Associate with Real Options Group in Milan from 1999 to 2001. Pablo Serna also served as the General Manager with Estudios, Consultorias y Asesorias Financieras and as a Director of Milestone Scientific Inc. from June 2006 until 2015.

He holds a Degree in Finance and International Affairs from Universidad Externado de Colombia, and a Master of Science in Finance and International Banking with distinction from the University of Salford in UK, and Diploma in Corporate Finance from CESA in Colombia.

Pablo Serna has dual Colombian and Italian citizenship, and is fluent in Spanish, English, Italian and French.