COUNTDOWN #2

From the townships of Soweto to many of the world's wealthiest cities, from the southern tip of South America to the edge of the Arctic Circle, squash players all over the globe are uniting to support their sport's bid for a place in the 2016 Olympics.

Squash 2016 Day takes place on Saturday (May 23) with a worldwide festival of Olympic-themed events.

Special emphasis is focused on the four cities bidding to host the 2016 Games, with extensive squash programmes scheduled to take place in Chicago, Madrid, Rio and Tokyo.

All four cities will be holding open-air demonstrations and open days at major clubs with top professionals lending a hand.

Squash 2016 fever has caught on all over the world and the day launches in New Zealand with rock star Phil Buscke, The Datsuns guitarist, wearing his Squash 2016 T-shirt as he does a bungee jump from Auckland Harbour Bridge live on TV. Phil said: "I've been asked to do a lot of things by Squash New Zealand in the past, but I never thought they'd ask me to jump off a bridge."

Clubs big and small are joining forces as the sport aims to raise its profile ahead of the crucial IOC voting process.

Pimville Squash Club in Soweto is holding an open day, with hundreds of local children taking to the courts for a free introduction to the sport.

WORLD STARS SUPPORT THE BID

Women's world champion Nicol David and England No.1 Nick Matthew are backing the bid in style.

David, the 26-year-old world No.1 from Malaysia, is holding an auction of her prized tournament memorabilia in her home city of Penang.

Matthew, meanwhile, is heading to Milan for the Five Nations Tournament with his Hallamshire, Sheffield, team taking Squash 2016 banners, flags and T-shirts to the Polisquash Sports Club.

ALL ABOARD THE SQUASH BUS

Squash buses will be taking to the streets in London and the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur, where squash enthusiast will be waving their banners and posing for pictures in front of iconic locations such as Buckingham Palace and the Petronas Towers. At the end of the day, Squash 2016 Day organisers will have amassed an amazing collection of images from all over the world, which will help to illustrate squash's truly global appeal.

FROM BOLLYWOOD TO HOLLYWOOD

Some Bollywood-style photo opportunities are being planned in India, with squash fans descending on the Taj Mahal, Agra, and also the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, which was attacked by terrorists in November last year. There are further Squash 2016 activities all over India, with events taking place in Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi and Kolkata.

In America, a host of events are taking place all over the country, with squash fans waving banners and flags in front of the world famous Hollywood sign in Los Angeles.

Elsewhere, squash legends Jonathon Power and John White will be taking part alongside women's world No.2 Natalie Grainger in the 100-a-side Battle of The Border match at the Apawamis Club in Connecticut.

24-HOUR MARATHONS

Two 24-hour marathons are being held, one at the Leñadura Country Club at the southern Chilean city of Punta Arenas, and the other at Thurles Squash Club, County Tipperary, Ireland.

BIG DAY IN ECUADOR

This weekend saw the start of the 7th Festival Olympico Ecuatorianno, a gathering of 3,000 athletes competing in 39 sports alongside a number of cultural events until 24 May in Ecuador's capital city Quito - and Squash will have a major part to play. This comes at an important time for the sport, as it bids for a place in the Olympic Games from 2016.

Squash is one of the eleven sports in the event to be designated as International, so this means that although the Festival is a domestic event there will be several overseas players competing in the Squash singles competition.

While checking on the fine-tuning of the event and the preparations for the Men's World Junior Squash Team & Individual Championships to be held in Ecuador next year, Deputy Minister of Sport Mr Raoul Ricorde was also briefed about the hopes that Squash has to be included in the Olympic Games programme for 2016.

Ecuador Squash Federation President Mr Alberto Adum explained: “The whole of South American Squash is behind our bid for the Olympics, and we see this yearly festival as our step towards this. All the sports are on national TV now so squash is known to everybody here, whether they play or not.”

Explaining the importance of the Festival, Danilo Carrera D, Director of the Comité Limpico Ecuatoria, said: “This sports festival is the most important and large event in our country. The objective is to promote all the sports and to encourage the athletes to become elite players and participate in the Olympic cycle of events.”