Willstrop claims squash on track for the Olympics

World number one James Willstrop believes that the Tournament of Champions, starting inside Grand Central terminal on Friday, shows why squash deserves to become an Olympic sport at next year's International Olympic Committee (IOC) vote. Willstrop aims to boost his hopes of remaining number one and his sport's attempt at getting into the Games by what he does and says at one of the ATP World Tour's most unusual venues over the next seven days. The action is situated inside an all-glass court under a row of chandeliers in the famous transit hub's Vanderbilt Hall, and near to the clock where countless films and TV programmes have been shot. "It's one of the wonderful things that we can give to an Olympics," Willstrop claimed. "We play at such special venues that sometimes you have to pinch yourself when you see them." These currently include Hong Kong harbour front, Green Island in the Arabian Gulf, and have previously included the Giza pyramids in Egypt. Demountable courts could also be placed close to iconic landmarks at any of the 2020 Games' bidding cities - a capacity for promotional imagery which Willstrop is drawing attention to. "They look great on the cameras. It's one of the remarkable things about the sport that the court is completely portable," the Englishman continued. "I can't think of another sport which doesn't demand an arena or a pitch. I should have thought it would be very enticing for the IOC." The Englishman starts his campaign to win the Tournament of Champions, the first World Series event of 2012, against a qualifier, and could advance to a semi-final against either of two former world number ones, Thierry Lincou of France or Karim Darwish of Egypt. The other half may see world champion Nick Matthew, another Englishman, earn a semi-final with Amr Shabana, the four times former world champion from Egypt, or Gregory Gaultier, the former world number one from France.