THE Squash Racquets Association of Malaysia (SRAM) are disappointed with the cancellation of the men's World Team Championships but will look to move forward.
The men's world meet was cancelled as Israel were unable to secure confirmation over their entry visas. Malaysia does not have diplomatic ties with Israel.
The other reason is the new Covid-19 variant — Omicron.
"We were open to all countries who wanted to join, but in Israel's case, we told them we could not guarantee entry into the country," said Squash Racquets Association of Malaysia (SRAM) president Gerard Monteiro yesterday.
"After discussion with the World Squash Federation (WSF), we decided that it was better to cancel the event in order not to offend anyone.
"Of course, we are definitely disappointed with the outcome. We win some and lose some, and we just have to take this in our stride.
"We do, however, want to take in the positives as we had a very successful Malaysian Open.
"There is also the Asian Team Championships right now.
"It's a huge step for us as at the start of the year, we did not know if we could have any events this season.
"And we do not want to get sidetracked by this because 2022 will be a big year with the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games."
The Asian team meet is ongoing this week, and it is a great chance for the national players to strut their stuff.
Malaysia are the second seeds in both the men and women's events, and will be looking to qualify for the finals.
After the meet in KL, players will shift their focus to the Asian Individual Championships in Islamabad, Pakistan on Dec 15-19.