KARACHI, Sept 3: World squash chief Jahangir Khan on Saturday welcomed the inclusion of squash in the 2007 Pan American Games to be held in Brazil and said that it was a good development for the sport that is campaigning for a place in the Olympic Games.

Jahangir, President of the World Squash Federation (WSF) said that squash was continuously growing all over the world and would finally win a berth on the Olympic programme in the future.

Squash received a significant global boost in Brazil this week when it was announced that the sport will be featured in the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro.

The decision was made by the Pan American Sports Organisation (PASO), headed by IOC Executive Board Member Mario Vazquez and the Organising Committee of Rio 2007 (CORIO), headed by IOC Member Carlos Arthur Nuzman.

The announcement, made during the 43rd PASO General Assembly, was received with rapturous applause and excitement from the floor - and led to wide-spread media coverage for the Brazilian Squash Confederation.

It will mark the fourth successive appearance by squash in these games, after Mar del Plata 1995 in Argentina, Winnipeg in Canada in 1999, and Santo Domingo 2003 in the Dominican Republic.—PPI