According to an objective study conducted by the research company ‘Sponsor Insight’ at the beginning of the year, interest towards squash is growing strongly in the Northern European country. Compared to the average of the previous three years, the number of people interested in squash has risen by more than 70%. Currently, the sport is of interest to more than half a million Finnish adults.

For the study, 2112 adult Finns were interviewed. The sample corresponds in terms of gender, age and sub-regions to a demographic structure in miniature, with a margin of error of 1.4%. In the age and gender comparison, 18-44-year-old men and 30-44-year-old women are most interested in squash. About one in four of these groups report being very or fairly interested in squash. Interest has grown over the past four years in all age groups under 60 years. Among women, interest in squash has more than doubled.

Finnish Squash Association Executive Director Mika Monto said: “Over the last four years, we’ve been working hard to make squash known and to improve the image of the sport. It’s nice to note we have done something right.

“In addition, it has been inspiring to experience that squash has begun to evolve around positive general buzz. The sport is talked about more in the media and we don’t need to do all the communication by ourselves. The strengths of the sport are indisputable, it is versatile, burns calories extremely efficiently and it’s fun after all.”

The country’s most popular sport, according to this year’s survey, is still ice hockey with 45% interest rates. Squash’s interest has risen to 12 percent and it left behind other sports such as padel with 11% interest rate. 60% of those interested in squash are men and 40% are women. Although squash activities are most concentrated in the south and the Helsinki metropolitan area, the sport is still of interest throughout Finland. The profile of a person interested in squash is a highly-educated senior employee, manager, entrepreneur or expert under the age of 44 living in or near a large city.