Squash an outsider in bid to become Olympic sport

In the two-year contest for a single spot in the 2020 Olympics, squash long seemed to be the front-runner.
The World Squash Federation delivered a more dynamic and television-friendly game to answer constructive criticism following two previous failed attempts to gain Olympic status.
Squash also figured to be popular with future hosts, which are stretched to stage 28 sports within budget and without creating "white elephant" venues. Squash offers a flexible, cost-effective option with potential to find an eye-catching location on the city's landscape.
Then, in February, everything changed.
Seven months before the Sept. 8 vote in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the International Olympic Committee's executive board upset all calculations by removing wrestling from the list of core Olympic sports. Modern pentathlon was predicted as a more likely victim, while taekwondo and field hockey were also in the discussion.

When squash was as predicted chosen by the same IOC board on a three-sport shortlist in May, it was alongside a strong showing from wrestling and the combined forces of baseball-softball, two more sports which recently lost Olympic status.
"As far as the World Squash Federation is concerned, we are looking at it as two matches," the governing body's president, N. Ramachandran, told The Associated Press in an interview. "The first match was to get on to the shortlist, which we did. The second match is now to get into the Olympic Games program.