German company ASB, the world's biggest squash court manufacturer, has marked its 50th anniversary by producing a picture book outlining its history.

The new book, titled ASB: 50 Years of Exceptional Success, is due to be published in July.

ASB was founded by Horst Babinsky as a company for interior construction on October 1, 1965.

In 1977, the first ASB SquashCourt was presented in the popular television sports show Das aktuelle Sportstudio.

The ASB system court reached 50 per cent of the German-speaking market and in the years that followed, more than 7,000 ASB SquashCourts have been installed around the world.

Innovations and further developments have constantly been introduced by the ASB, including its ShowGlassCourt, which is used for major international tournaments featuring the world’s leading players.

The court has been a major feature of the Commonwealth Games with a movable side wall instantly converting the playing area into a doubles court.

In 1987, Babinsky was presented the award for innovation by the squash press in Germany.

Fifteen years later, he received a special award from the World Squash Federation (WSF) in Kuala Lumpur.

Innovations and developments have constantly been introduced by the ASB over the years ©ASB

ASB joined forces with the Professional Squash Association in 2012 in a bid to enhance experience of squash spectators as the sport bid for a place at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

In 2013, it was shortlisted as a "new" sport ahead of rock climbing, karate and roller sports, before being "side-lined", in the words of WSF President N Ramachandran, when the International Olympic Committee (IOC) reintroduced the previously axed wrestling for Tokyo 2020.

Squash’s aspirations for London 2012 were ended when the sport lost out on a "voting technicality" - Ramachandran claims - and four years later it narrowly lost out to rugby sevens and golf for inclusion at Rio 2016.

The "technicality" came at the IOC Session in Singapore in 2005, when a two-thirds majority was needed for inclusion rather than a simple majority, something both squash and karate failed to secure.

In September of last year, baseball and softball, karate, skateboarding, sport climbing and surfing were the five sports recommended for inclusion on the Olympic programme at Tokyo 2020 with bowling, squash and wushu missing out.

A final decision on what will be included is due to be made at this summer's IOC Session in Rio de Janeiro.