Zena Elected WSF President

ISLAMABAD Dec 6 (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 6th Dec, 2020 ) ::Zena Wooldridge has been elected as the new World Squash Federation (WSF) President following the WSF's 2020 Annual General Meeting.

Wooldridge, from England, would become the 10th WSF President to serve since the Federation's inception in 1967 and the second female. Wooldridge would serve a minimum four-year term after being elected by delegates representing 64 National Federations - a record number - who attended the 50th WSF AGM which was the first to be held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic, said a press release issued here.

Wooldridge previously served six years as President of the European Squash Federation between 2013-2019. She replaces outgoing President Jacques Fontaine, from France, who was elected President in 2016.

During his four years as President, Fontaine was heavily involved in squash's efforts to gain Olympic recognition at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and also strengthened ties with the sport's professional governing body, the Professional Squash Association. Everyone at WSF thanks Fontaine for his service.

Two new Vice Presidents were also elected at the AGM, while Pablo Serna - former President of the Colombia Squash Federation - has been elected for a second term for four years.

He was joined by Karim Darwish, a former men's World No.1 from Egypt, and Debendranath Sarangi, the President of the Squash Rackets Federation of India, who have been elected for four years and two years, respectively.

They would work alongside five-time World Champion Sarah Fitz-Gerald - who was elected as Vice President in 2016 - while Huang Ying How steps down after his four-year term.

Speaking about the new appointments, Wooldridge welcomed Karim and Debendranath on board.

"I believe squash fits modern lifestyles so well and is well-suited to new technological developments such as InteractiveSQUASH. So we have a strong platform in place to do some really exciting things with squash and accelerate the development of the sport around the world, and I look forward to working with all stakeholders over the next four years." Jahangir Khan would serve a further term as Emeritus President of the WSF - a position the six-time World Champion has held for 12 years - while Chile and Libya have been approved as new Member Federations of the WSF.