Fly High And Soar
That’s the motto behind Fly Squash Club - or Tengfei Squash Club as it’s locally known - one of the new stunning glass-court packed facilities taking over the squash machinery in Shanghai.
Founded by Jack Wang (Chinese name Wang Junjie) - China’s most successful ever squash player - Fly Squash began as a single club facility in 2019, but in the past six years has rapidly grown to become one of Shanghai’s, and China’s, leading clubs. Expanding to three locations across Shanghai (in Hongqiao, Pudong (Longyang), and Xinjianwan) collectively offering nine glass courts in an array of stunning colours for its members, from aspiring juniors to recreational hackers, it is one of the most stunning squash complexes a squash lover could ask for.
Fly’s recent growth has been spearhead by Lim Chi Ming, a Malaysian coach formally based in Macau for over a decade, who has helped transform Fly into one of the world’s most stunning squash complexes - and one that has ambitions beyond its current, already impressive, status.
As Lim says: “We are building something different. It is a commercial first approach, not the same model as seen in Europe and Britain. What we are building is a commercial centre. Or vision for Fly is to become for squash what the likes of the Rafa Nadal and Nick Bollettieri academic have been for tennis - become a globally renowned centre of excellence featuring the best technology, best equipment and best coaching support.
“We looked at the way players go abroad to get specialist training and thought, why not have the same system in squash. It’s always been the national systems that squash has relied on in the past and governments are limited in how they can invest. We’re here to change that and position Fly as a global leader and at the forefront on the Chinese growth.
“Our hope is to make Fly a central hub for professional players when they’re competing on the Asian leg of the PSA tour, as well as offering a base to Asian players to train together and lift the level across all of Asia.”
With the club’s stunning glass courts supplied by CGG courts - a WSF accredited manufacturer - players have the opportunity to train on the same kind of all-glass courts used in pro tournaments, a rarity in China, which has helped position the club as a premier facility. With Malaysian Ivan Yuen, a former top 40 player, as high performance coach and a strategic partnership with Elite Squash, a renowned UK-based coaching academy run by Hadrian Stiff - coach to Mohamed ElShrorbagy - there is also international expertise throughout their programme, a strong pull for aspiring local juniors.
With regular exhibition matches, youth tournaments and squash camps, Fly then added international clout with the likes of Mohamed ElShorbagy attending summer camps in 2025, experiences that were virtually unheard of in China’s squash scene previously. That approach inspired China’s other top clubs to follow suit, with the game’s biggest stars attending camps across China throughout 2025 - a blend of grassroots focus and international inspiration fuelling the game’s rapid rise.
All of which fits Wang’s initial vision for the club - to create a platform to develop young players and elevate Chinese squash.
“We hope through the club’s platform to ignite more children’s love for squash, cultivate more young athletes and provide them pathways upward to provincial, city, and even national teams,” said Wang.
Central to that, according to Lim, is to ensure the facility is open, vibrant and welcoming - eschewing the traditional dirty plaster walls and basement court locations common amongst European clubs, something Lim describes as more “a barrier than a beacon”, in favour of beautiful glass courts and complete facilities - acting as an enticement to the sport itself for a new demographic of players who five years ago were unaware of squash’s existence.
Integral to Fly’s success is also their model - where pay as you play sits alongside the typical membership programmes, ensuring those totally new to the game, and those seeking depth of coaching and development, are equally catered for.
With ambitions to expand further in the coming years, Fly Squash is positing itself as one of Shanghai’s, China’s and indeed the world’s finest squash clubs.
