Years of painstaking preparation will culminate this afternoon in the official launch of the World Squash Open, to be hosted in Bermuda this November.

The multi-million dollar event is the most prestigious tournament in professional squash and will once again attract all of the world’s best players to the Island’s shores — including the reigning world champion and local resident David Palmer of Australia.

The World Open represents the the final plank in a three-year agreement between the Bermuda Squash Racquets Association and the Professional Squash Association — signed in April 2004 — which was, at the time, the most lucrative contract ever signed in the history of the sport.

For the past two years, the Island has hosted the Virtual Spectator Bermuda Masters at the BHS gymnasium, a $120,000 tournament widely regarded as the second-most important competition in the game.

Come November, however, local squash fans will be treated to something altogether more grand, with the all-glass court on which most leading pro events are played set to be built outside — reportedly in one of the Island’s most picturesque locations.

The BSRA’s director of squash Ross Triffitt and his team have spent over two years scouring Bermuda for the appropriate site, and are set to showcase the chosen venue at a press conference this afternoon which will be attended by Premier Ewart Brown.

Building the glass court in spectacular locations is a common theme in pro squash, with the famous Al-Ahram championships having been played in the Egyptian desert with the pyramids as a backdrop, while other locations include New York’s Grand Central Station and up until a few years ago, the Symphony Hall in Boston.

Meanwhile, it was announced earlier this year that a Bermudian would be given a wildcard into the opening round of the World Open.

And after defeating perennial Island number one Nick Kyme in the National Championships in February — a result which surprised everybody — the New-York based former pro James Stout is in pole position to claim it.

The identity of the wildcard is not expected to be confirmed until closer to the date, however.