KUALA LUMPUR: The Squash Racquets Association of Malaysia (SRAM) can roll up their calendar, as far as organising tournaments for this year is concerned.
The extension of the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) from Nov 9-Dec 6, has all but put paid to their hopes of having any more tournaments for this season.
With the CMCO covering all peninsula states, except for Perlis, Kelantan and Pahang, SRAM are forced to call off their two planned Professional Squash Association (PSA) Tour events on Nov 18-22 and Nov 25-28.
"We don't really have a choice in this and we have to follow the CMCO," said SRAM director Mejar (Rtd) S. Maniam.
"I've told the office staff to write to PSA to hold off the two planned events until further notice.
"We initially planned to have the tournaments in Penang because it was CMCO-free but now it involves nine states in Peninsular Malaysia.
"There's still the option of Perlis, which has facilities but then there are inter-state travel restrictions. So, it's just looking not very feasible at the moment.
"It is really a sad situation especially for the players although this is nobody's fault."
Maniam, however, said SRAM will try to organise some internal competitions of sorts at the national centre in Bukit Jalil to keep the players active.
"With the latest CMCO, it is unlikely that we'll be able to organise anymore official tournaments for this year. There is just not enough time on such short notices," said Maniam.
"We've seen how the BAM organised a ranking badminton challenge among themselves, so it's something that we could consider.
"But it would not be with fanfare and publicity because we still need to adhere to CMCO rules."