As a way to celebrate 50 years of Temuka Squash, the South Canterbury town will be hosting the Trust Aoraki Midlands Professional Squash Association and District Squash Open.
Players from 14 different nationalities will be competing in a specially installed glass court at 2 King St from June 25-29.
Tournament director and Squash Midlands district manager Vicki Rae said the glass court had been transported from Christchurch after it was used at the New Zealand Squash Open earlier this year.
"It’s a real spectacle. It was used at the Isaac Theatre Royal, and it was the first time the glass court had ever been erected in the South Island.
"It takes four days to build and we had to fly in a specialist from the UK [United Kingdom] to lead the build.
"It’s a real coup for us and I had to do a lot of begging behind the scenes to get it here."
The top seeded players in the men’s draw include former junior world No1 Rowan Damming, from the Netherlands, and New Zealander Elijah Thomas, who is ranked just outside the top 100.
The women’s entry list is headed by New Zealand’s Ella Lash who has a world ranking of 127 and will face competition from second seed Kincso Szasz from Hungary.
Alongside the international PSA competition, players from Timaru, Temuka, and Pleasant Point will be going head to head in the district open.
Rae said it was great to be able to hold such a high level tournament in Temuka.
"The Temuka club really pushed for this and have been so supportive. A lot of local sponsors came on board as well to make this all happen.
"We’ve also managed to build some things around it. We have got schools from the local area coming to the venue and being involved in interactive activities and watching matches.
"For a small country town to host an event of this calibre is a major coup. The event is for the whole community not just squash players and we are excited to showcase our great sport."
She said she expected the tournament to have a great atmosphere.
"Having it in a storage facility sounds terrible when you try to explain it but the building is not very old and how it is going to look inside will just be awesome.
"We’ve got light shows, DJ music, food carts outside and the The Brad Staley Trio will be playing on Saturday night. There is going to be a real party vibe."
General admission is free for the opening rounds on Wednesday and Thursday and two sessions will take place each day from 11.45am-3pm
and 5.15-8.30pm.
For the knockout rounds on Friday, Saturday and Sunday general admission tickets cost $10 and a $25 ticket is available for the Saturday night celebration featuring The Brad Staley Trio.
The Friday session will run from 11.45am-9pm, the Saturday session will take place from noon-8pm, and the finals on Sunday will begin at 9am.
Corporate tables are also available for Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
Tickets are available from eventbrite.
