Bharat Maheshwari, Irfan Qadir, Ahmed ZabianSquash supporters: Management professor Bharat Maheshwari with CEO Irfan Qadir of the accounting firm Gerald Duthie & Co. and restaurateur Ahmed Zabian of Eastern Flavours.

Business school sponsoring squash showcase

A lot of business gets done on the squash court, says Bharat Maheshwari.

A professor of management science and director of the MBA program at the Odette School of Business, he cites the connections the sport offers as a reason the school has signed on to sponsor a showcase of some of its top competitors next week in Windsor.

“Squash and golf are the two major corporate games,” says Dr. Maheshwari. “You make great friendships and generate the trust that is necessary to every business transaction.”

He notes the city already boasts leagues that attract students from the University in several professional disciplines: law and medicine as well as business.

“About 60 to 70 professors, staff members, and students I know from all faculties are avid squash players,” Maheshwari says.

In addition to financial support, the school is a source of student volunteers promoting the week’s events.

“They are seeing first-hand the trials and tribulations of putting a together world-class event,” he says. “So there is experiential learning around the business of sport, which is a big component of the entertainment industry.”

Maheshwari calls the sponsorship a perfect opportunity for the business faculty, showing support for a local project that will help raise the city’s profile internationally.

“We are proud to be associated with this initiative, which will put Windsor on the map in a new way, while strengthening the ties of the Odette School of Business with partners across the community and around the world.”

Four tournaments will run concurrently, Aug. 15 to 21 at the Devonshire Mall and the Windsor Squash and Fitness Club — the inaugural Jahangir Khan Windsor Cup Men’s Invitational and three under the aegis of the Professional Squash Association: the $6,000 JK Windsor Open Women’s Challenger, and $3,000 women’s and men’s satellite events.

Find more information and purchase tickets here.

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