Female Squash Players Deal with Drastic Prize Money Cut off at British Open
The British Open Squash has always been regarded as the most prestigious tournament in the world of squash. However, it can not be denied that the global financial crisis has affected the sport and this tournament as well. Unfortunately, the people getting the full brunt of the crisis are the female squash players, who had to deal with the smaller cash prize money in this tournament.
Without a title sponsor, the British Open Squash organizers had to deal with the adjustment of the prize money. The good thing is that the competition will still proceed following the bail-out made by i-SPORT group. This is with the hopes of making this event regain its status in the world of squash.
The women’s prize money declined drastically to only $30,000, down from last year’s $53,000. The amount is only just a third of the men’s total prize money for this year’s tournament. However, reports revealed that there might be last minute adjustments on the amount because of the seemingly dissatisfied comments from the female players who might skip the tournament.
Despite these reported adjustments, the total will still be far less than other tournaments, such as the women’s World Open, which gives away nearly $120,000 in prize money every year.
The men’s prize money has been set at $92,000, an increase of $10,000 compared to last year. The increase was made in order to prevent the demotion of this tournament from its current Super Series status.
As of now, women’s world number one Nicol David of Malaysia remained silent on the issue. She’s currently the top seed in this year’s tournament.
