Asian Squash Championships: Japan’s Watanabe hoping to raise sport’s profile at home with strong showing in Hangzhou
- Satomi Watanabe is Asia’s highest-ranked women’s player, but her sport still plays second fiddle to tennis and badminton in Japan
- With the country hosting the 2026 Asian Games, the 24-year-old is hoping to keep it in the programme in 3 years time
Japan’s Satomi Watanabe cruised into the quarter-finals of the Asian Squash Championships on Wednesday, and said she hoped any success she achieves this year will raise the sport’s profile at home.
The world No 18 is the highest-ranked women’s player in the region, but still plays second fiddle to tennis and badminton stars in her own country.
With Japan set to host the 2026 Asian Games in Nagoya, Watanabe said she hoped a strong showing at the multi-sport event in Hangzhou this September could boost the chances of squash being included in three years time.
“Squash is not a prominent sport in my country compare to other racquet sports such as tennis and badminton,” the 24-year-old said. “But if I can get a good result in the Asian Games this summer, it will definitely help promote squash in Japan.”
Nagoya Games organisers have yet to decide if the sport will feature, according to David Mui Ying-yuen, who is president of both the Asian Squash Federation and Hong Kong Squash.
“We are pushing Nagoya hard to keep squash, but it’s not easy as the sport is never popular in Japan,” Mui said. “But if Satomi can become a champion in Hangzhou, it will definitely help.
