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David Palmer Signs Multi-Year Sponsorship Deal with Ashaway and Black Knight

Ashaway, RI — Ashaway Racket Strings and world-renowned squash racquet
manufacturer Black Knight have signed a joint long-term sponsorship
agreement with squash legend David Palmer. Currently ranked 4th in the PSA World rankings, Palmer is a three-time British Open and two-time World Open Champion, and has been sponsored by Ashaway for more than five years. The arrangement with Black Knight — which also serves as Ashaway’s Canadian Distributor — is new.

As part of the agreement, Black Knight will develop a high-end line of David
Palmer signature racquets to be introduced to the worldwide squash market in September 2008. All of the new Palmer racquets will be strung with Ashaway¹s PowerNick® 18, which Palmer has used since it was first introduced to the Ashaway squash string line. All existing Black Knight squash frames will continue to be strung at the factory with Ashaway strings.

“We see this as a very unique partnership between three leading players in the game — David Palmer, Ashaway Racket Strings, and Black Knight frames,” said Ashaway Vice President, Steve Crandall. “We believe it will generate a good deal of positive visibility, not only for our respective organizations, but for squash as a whole.”

According to Palmer, he and his wife and young daughter will move to the United States from Belgium in February. From his Boston, Massachusetts, base at the famous University Club, he will be playing in all of the major North American (USA and Canada) and World Tour events. In addition to playing with Ashaway strings and Black Knight frames at these PSA events, Palmer will promote Ashaway and Black Knight at squash camps, clinics, and exhibitions worldwide every year.

“We are very pleased to have a player of such caliber on our team,” said Bruce Alexander, manager of international sales and marketing for Black Knight, “and to expand our partnership with Ashaway. David has long wanted to play a proactive role in the development of squash equipment. This goal is a perfect fit with Black Knight’s reputation in the squash community and its 30-year history of squash innovations.”

Black Knight was founded in Vancouver in 1976, by racquet sport enthusiasts with a true commitment to the development and support of the sports they loved. Although Black Knight has grown and diversified considerably since then, both as a major brand within North America and through distribution in a number of countries around the world, that commitment remains at the heart of what they do. In Canada, Black Knight is the exclusive distributor for Ashaway Racket Strings.

Ashaway Racket Strings are made by Ashaway Line & Twine Mfg. Co., the only U.S. manufacturer of string for squash, tennis, racquetball, and badminton. Operated by the Crandall family since 1824, Ashaway has been making racquet strings since 1949, and is responsible for several important technical innovations. Ashaway is the Official String of USA Racquetball, the Professional Squash Association and the Women’s International Squash Players Association. Ashaway Line & Twine Mfg. Co. also makes braided products for medical and industrial applications.

Posted on February 15, 2008
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