Squash Tournament of Champions

SQUASH – Lawyers, Petitions, Free Markets, Healthy Competition

squashtournamentofchampions — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 22:37:12 +0000

Please review the following articles and links and consider:
- signing the petition
- sharing with others via email, Facebook, Twitter, blogs

Thank you,

Shawn
www.squashzag.com

Pro Squash Tour Launches Legal Action to Stop Player Ban
Yesterday, the Pro Squash Tour filed a lawsuit in the state of New York. Named in the suit are the Professional Squash Association, Event Engine and John Nimick. The court document can be viewed here: PST Lawsuit vs. PSA, Event Engine, Nimick

Not sure if the players had legal fees in mind when they submitted their annual PSA registration fees or players tax during their last tournament, but given the decisions of their management and Board they now find themselves a party to a lawsuit in the litigious states of America.
Read the full article HERE

Petition to Stop Ban, Precedent Limiting Players Participation in Non-PSA Events
This change affects professional players as well as fans and supporters of the sport. This petition is intended to garner the support of all squash enthusiasts who oppose this ban.

The goal of this petition is to encourage the PSA to lift the ban. This change in policy would allow thousands of dollars of expected prize money to be rightfully earned by PST players as well as encourage the growth of squash in the United States.
Read the full article HERE

Videos from the ToC

squashtournamentofchampions — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 19:41:37 +0000

Thanks again to our sponsors Black Knight and Meweco for making our “on site” coverage of the ToC possible.

We have started to edit and upload videos to the site and the SquashZAG Channel on YouTube.

Here is a sample:

Fireworks at ToC

squashtournamentofchampions — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 07:18:53 +0000

By Brett Erasmus
From MSRA Blog

Well, we are down to the final 8 and it played out like we thought.

The best players in the world have entered this event and they are the

ones who are left in the main draw.

We have the squash players currently ranked world numbers 1 through 8, excluding Englishman Barker (6) who did not enter. In his stead, world number 11 and the best New York based squash professional, Wael El Hindi, rounds out the quarterfinalists.

Wael’s route to the quarters was not easy. Tonight, Sunday January

24th he faced a German player, Simon Rosner. The players are both

tall and have incredible reach and great shot-making ability. This

was a 5 game thriller and was arguably the closest and most

entertaining match of the tournament thus far.

El Hindi comes out wearing a baby blue outfit that most grown men would never wear. He looked pretty good though, compared to what he normally wears anyway (black sleeveless tops).

The first game the players were neck and neck all the way; a no let at the front right for El Hindi at 9-8. He appeals but the ball was stuck to the side wall and too tight to reach, so the game goes to 9-9. El Hindi wins the next point and

serves at 10-9 and plays a backhand drop this time. Rosner does not

ask for it but gets awarded it anyway. He refuses to take it and El

Hindi applauds his sportsmanship. In the end Rosner digs deep and

wins the game 12-10, after some really well executed straight drives.

In the first rally of the second game Rosner did a tour of the court

at the end of which El Hindi cupped his face in his hand in a gesture

to almost say ‘well done, my son’. At 5-4 El Hindi guesses left to

cover a straight drive but gets a let. He drops his racquet in

disbelief. He clearly expected a stroke. At 7-5 Rosner gets a stroke

- he holds his forehand at the back and El Hindi moves across too

soon. El Hindi’s comment to the refs was basically: ‘You don’t see a

call that bad every day’. The crowd was suitably amused. At 9-7

Rosner is serving and some guy in the crowd shouts out ‘step it up’

really loudly during the rally – Rosner does that and gets to game

ball. ’Niiice!’ is the appreciative response from the unwanted guest

(whom is soon escorted out by security). This game also goes down to

the wire. At 10-10 Rosner plays through interference and then shoots

an unbelievable winner into the front left corner. El Hindi literally

headbutts the wall in frustration, that must have hurt. Rosner wins

the game in the same front left corner, on a beautifully executed

forehand overhead kill this time. What a nice way to win a game, I

thought.

So El Hindi returns this gesture at the start of the next game, by

drilling the ball straight into the same nick. Not to be outdone,

Rosner does the same again in the immediately following point. It’s

game on. The pace is furious and serious physical contact now

unavoidably ensues in every rally. These guys were all over each

other this game. The scores was close again. At 9-7 down the marker

was overruled, as Rosner scrambled to a ball that was called down but

was good. El Hindi regroups but wins the next rally and the game, the

beginning of a great comeback.

In the 4th game El Hindi switches shirts and is now in his trademark sleeveless design. I have never seen one of those in baby blue, not on a squash court anyway. At 9-5 down in the 4th Rosner hits yet another forehand volley nick off the serve, a desperate shot at this point, but the only thing he could probably think of that was working well. El Hindi rounds out another incredibly physical game 11-7 and the match goes to 5.

Again the first point of the game was insanely long, and it ended in a

let. The players were all over each other again and after the first 3

rallies El Hindi was warned to clear his shots. A few points later

the warning went to Rosner for abuse of the ball (like that’s

possible) as he hits the ball away in frustration, after going 5-1

down. The game is all but lost. El Hindi held strong and seemed more

mentally tough in the 5th. The game was poised at 5-2 as Rosner runs

into El Hindi and totally floors him. Rosner hits the shot anyway and

wins the point.

This physical contact does not appear to phase El Hindi at all. In fact, I suspect this is exactly what he wants. He seems to thrive on it. He goes up 7-4 with a nice lean on his opponent at the T as he hits a straight volley kill. The game is all but over, Rosner spirit visibly broken. After holding a few match points with winners hit out of pure desparation, Rosner hits a reverse

angle and the game ends in a stroke right on the T.

It was not pretty, but this was the kind of fight we have come to expect from El Hindi. Nobody said playing top level squash would be easy. El Hindi

won this grueling match 10-12,10-12,11-9,11-7,11-6. An entertaining

match to watch and I suspect only the first in a line of fireworks

still to come.

So we have 4 Egyptians in the mix (El Hindi, Ashour, Darwish and

Shabana), 2 English players (Matthew and Willstrop), a Frenchman

(Gaultier) and an Australian (Palmer). The Frenchman won it last

year, the year before it was the young man, Ashour; and in 2006 and

2007 Shabana was victor. It would be nice to see one of the English

players win for a change, but I suspect that is not going to happen.

If Ashour holds out Gaultier on Tuesday evening I think he will go

through to the finals on Thursday and will face another Egyptian,

likely Darwish. Both of these guys are looking very strong and

relaxed this week.

Darwish was walking around chatting to supporters with his usual comfortable smile on this face. Probably because he does not have the pressure of the number one world ranking on him anymore; he has nothing to lose really once he is in the semis and he has never won this event. I expect to see him perform at his very best.

Ashour is going to be hard to beat though, he recently attained

the world number one ranking and is playing unbelievable well. The

way he hits the ball is novel, and is very different to how the game

is taught – he uses a very closed face and practically no back-swing

on certain shots. His style may revolutionize the game (more

on this later in the week). His talent is enormous and he has

actually improved since last time he played here. If he keeps this up

I suspect he will hold the world number one spot for many years

to come. Winning this tournament will entrench him in the top spot.

Of course, he has to beat the defending champ first on Tuesday.

We’ll see what happens.

Check back later this week for an update.

Metropolitan Squash Racquets Association

3000+ players, 74 league teams, 45 clubs, 3 major tournaments. 1 busy city.

New York’s Source for All Things Squash

El Hindi Hangs On and Shabana Squeaks Into Quarterfinals

squashtournamentofchampions — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 07:10:24 +0000

By Beth Rasin

The fiery spirit, agile athleticism and silken squash shotmaking of Egypt’s Amr Shabana were on full display as he eked out a tiebreak fifth game victory against England’s Alistair Walker in the J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions at Grand Central Terminal.

“I was almost on a plane home tonight,” the relieved two time titleholder said after the match. The ninth seeded Walker, who had beaten Shabana for the first time in September at the Sky Open in Egypt, roared into the match winning the first game 11-6. “My head was all over the place,” the third seeded Egyptian said, “and I had to tighten up my game to get back on track. He has amazing reach, and can volley any ball that isn’t really tight on the rail.” In a match marked by huge momentum swings, Shabana won the second game 11-5, lost the third 11-2, and won the fourth 11-2.

“When you get to the fifth, it is anybody’s game,” Shabana continued. He looked to have the match in hand at 7-3, but the Englishman staged a five point rally to take the lead 8-7 after moving Shabana from side to side and hitting a winning backhand rail. A Walker tin and a stroke to the Egyptian gave Shabana match ball at 10-8. His leaping volley on the next point went into the tin and an out ball brought the game to a 10 all tie. Shabana showed that he was not about to be denied as he made two diving saves to keep the ball in play on the next point which ended in a let. The eventual victor then buried the ball deep in the backhand corner to force an error from Walker, which was followed by a tin, securing the former world champion a place in the ToC quarterfinals.

Shabana’s opponent will be sixth seed James Willstrop, who defeated Mohammed Ali Reda in three straightforward games. Having survived a tough five-game first round match, the Egyptian wasn’t sharp or strong enough to challenge Willstrop. There was a heart stopping moment in the second game, however, when Willstrop asked for a three minute injury timeout. “It was scary, because I’m just now feeling fully comfortable after recovering from surgery in April for a bone spur, and my worst nightmare is to have another injury” said Willstrop. ”Fortunately it wasn’t anything more than a slip on court.”

Top seed Karim Darwish also made it into the quarterfinals with a win over countryman Hisham Ashour, who made Darwish work hard for the win, even though it was a straight game victory. “With Hisham, you never know how he’s going to play – he always brings something new to the court,” Darwish remarked. “Every time I play him I feel like I am playing him for the first time.” Ashour, although frustrated that he did not win a game, was encouraged by the standard of play. “I was finding some good pace,” he said. ”Now I just need to get all the good squash in my head out on the court.”

Darwish’s next opponent will be seventh seed David Palmer who schooled qualifier Adrian Waller with relentless attacking pace and stuck-to-the wall rails. “He was just too strong,” said Waller after losing, 11-4, 11-4,11-4. “I have gotten a pretty favorable draw,” said Palmer, “and I am trying to take advantage of it so I can be in a position to challenge the top four guys. I definitely wanted to have short matches so I didn’t waste any gas in the early rounds.”

World #1 Ramy Ashour opened the evening session of play with a blistering victory over qualifier Nicolas Mueller. The 22-year-old had some extra fire in the belly after reading that some of his fellow competitors thought they had figured out his game. “Some people think that they know my game – that they can beat me at my game. But for someone to learn my game is very hard. I play by instinct –no one can know me but me,” the passionate world champion explained. Ashour’s prodigious shotmaking skills were on full display during the match along with a variety of pace. “It was crazy out there, playing the world #1 in front of a full crowd.” said Mueller. ”It took me one game to realize just how fast the pace is at which he plays.”

Ramy next meets defending champion Gregory Gaultier who eliminated Colombia’s Miguel Angel Rodriguez, 11-8,11-5,11-8. “He is the fastest player in the game, like Speedy Gonzales,” Gaultier said of Rodriguez. “I wasn’t moving the best I could, but I did what I had to do to win the match.” Looking ahead to upcoming encounter with Ashour, the Frenchman said, “I think it is going to be painful for both of us. He beat me at the World Championships, but I beat him in Cairo,” referring to the competitors’ last two match results.

The final match up in the quarterfinals pits world #2 Nick Matthew against eighth seed Wael Hindi. Matthew spent only 23 minutes on court in his match – he was leading Stewart Boswell 11-5,11-5 when the Australian shook hands with Matthew indicating that he was retiring from the match due to a sore knee which he had injured in his match warm up. “I would have liked a little more time on court,” said Matthew, ‘But I did OK last year without a lot of court time,” ruefully noting that Boswell had defaulted to him in last year’s tournament in which he received two walkovers en route to the 2009 final against Gaultier.

El Hindi, on the other hand, needed 81 minutes to defeat Germany’s Simon Rosner to advance to the quarterfinals. After losing the first two games in a 10-12 tiebreak and falling behind 2-4 in the third, El Hindi looked like he might be making an early departure from Grand Central. But he regrouped, and using all his wiles, including slowing the tempo of the game between points, El Hindi muscled his way back into the match. Taking advantage of every let opportunity, El Hindi disrupted Rosner’s rhythm, blunting the German’s power and pace, to win the final three games, 11-9,11-7,11-6. “I think I felt some extra pressure because I had a lot of friend and family here tonight,” El Hindi said. ”When I was down two games, I had to push my mind to be positive.” The power of positive thinking worked – and the eighth seeded Egyptian will have a day of rest before taking on last year’s finalist.

[6] James Willstrop (ENG) def. Mod Ali A Reda (EGY)

3 – 0 11-5,11-6,11-6 39 mins

[3] Amr Shabana (EGY) def [9] Alister Walker (ENG)

3 – 2 6-11,11-5,2-11,11-2,12-10 64mins

[1] Karim Darwish (EGY) def. [12] Hisham M. Ashour (EGY)

3 – 0 11-8,11-9,11-8 37mins

[7] David Palmer (AUS) def. [Q] Adrian Waller (ENG)

3 – 0 11-4,11-4,11-4 30 mins

[5] Ramy Ashour (EGY) def. [Q]Nicolas Mueller (SUI)

3 – 0 11-5,11-7,11-7 25 mins

[4] Nick Matthew (ENG) def. [10] Stewart Boswell (AUS)

3 – 0 11-5,11-5, ret 23 mins

[2] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) def.[14] Miguel Rodriguez (COL)

3 – 0 11-8,11-5,11-8 37 mins

[8] Wael El Hindi (EGY) def. Simon Rosner (GER)

3 – 2 10-12, 10-12,11-9,11-7,11-6 81 mins

MATCH in REVIEW – Willstrop vs. Reda

squashtournamentofchampions — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 05:02:43 +0000

By David Uprichard

James Willstrop defeated Mohd. Ali Anwar Reda

3 – 0 11-5, 11-6, 11-6 (39 minutes)

It was a routine outing for James Willstrop (England) in his second round appearance at the Tournament of Champions.

After a brief injury timeout in the first game (Willstrop’s ankle), he never seemed particularly pressed against Egyptian Mohd Ali Anwar Reda. James gets around the court particularly well for his 6’4″ frame, and he fooled Reda on quite a few occasions with a well disguised trickle boast.

These affairs are never a foregone conculsion, but in this particular instance the crowd at Grand Central Station were given a case study in what will most likely happen when the 33rd ranked player in the world levels off against someone with a ranking of 7th (previously as high as 2nd).

I suspect Willstrop will face steeper competition in his next round, where he meets two-time ToC title holder, Amr Shabana (current world number #3).

SquashZAG coverage of the Tournament of Champions is made possible by the generous support of our sponsors:

MATCH in REVIEW – Shabana vs. Walker

squashtournamentofchampions — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 04:58:00 +0000

By David Uprichard

Amr Shabana defeated Alistair Walker
3 – 2 6-11, 11-5, 2-11, 11-2, 12-10 (64 minutes)

Alister Walker (England), currently ranked number 12 in the world, jumped out to an aggressive start against the former world #1, and previous 2 time ToC title holder, Amr Shabana.

Walker, ever stylish, (today’s ensemble had bandana, shirt and even racquet strings all the same shade of green!) simply seemed more alive, alert and generally prepared for the match. Shabana, on the other hand, appeared somewhat out of it, distracted and sluggish.

Down a game, Shabana came out with a somewhat more determined expression at the start of the second, but he still didn’t appear to have that deft touch that we’ve become all too familiar with. His shoulders were slumped, and he seemed almost surly on court.Sometimes, however, the mark of a true champion is that they find a way to win, even when they are not having their best day. It was surely one of those days for Shabana. He seemed quite content to keep most of the play to Walker’s forehand, and he stayed focused while the play became increasingly physical. Several points ended with a let, Walker hitting a forehand down the wall with Shabana unable to get directly to it.

Tied at one game all, Walker again took charge of the match, and stamped his authority on things with a definitive 11-2 score in the third game. I love those moments in a match, when you just don’t quite know which way the tide is going to flow. We had already witnessed a couple of momentum shifts, but I am fairly certain the crowd at Vanderbilt Hall felt they were on the verge of witnessing a huge upset. But it was a very different Shabana that walked onto the court in the fourth game.He started to comfortably move Walker around, and his touch up front was back to the devastating form he’s typically known for. Serving as the game’s exclamation point, when he was up 9-2 in the fourth, Shabana leaped into the air and attacked a weak lob into the nick for an outright forehand winner.

There was going to a fifth game!

Walker seemed to lose his focus a bit at the start of the fifth, and despite an amazing dive (I seriously hope one of the photographers captured it!) to retrieve a brilliantly well disguised trickle boast, was 5-1 down after a slew of unforced errors. But you don’t get to be Number 12 in the world without knowing how to dig deep and focus, and having been down 7-3, Walker didn’t just level the match, but went ahead 8-7. A huge roar erupted from the crowd and it was time to see what Shabana was really made of!A tinned forehand volley by Walker brought the score to 8-8. Shabana inched forward to 9-8, when he was awarded a stroke, on what honestly seemed to look like a let at various other points in the match. The referee’s explanation, “you blocked his access to the ball”, was met with a stern rebuke by Walker, “that’s because he was going for me, not the ball!”. But at 10-8 up, with two match balls in hand, Shabana was unable to convert.Walker clawed his way back to tie it at 10-all.

Tied at 10 in the fifth!! Who needs the Jets/Colts game??!!

Shabana earned himself another match ball, when Walker was unable to return a drive deep to his backhand side. I thought it was just a great shot, but Shabana seemed to think the court had something to do with it, and proceeded to blow several kisses to the back corner of the court. Third time was indeed a charm for the Egyptian, as he saw his opponent dive yet again in a desperate attempt to dig the ball out of the back forehand corner, after a well-timed drive.

A roar and a fist pump by Shabana was quickly followed by a handshake a hug for Walker.

As the crowd gave both players a standing ovation, I couldn’t help but make gladiatorial comparisons. An early scare for the one time champion and a gritty performance by his opponent, it’s always bittersweet to see someone actually lose a match like this. But that’s squash, and I for one, am thoroughly looking forward to seeing how Shabana performs in his next round.

SquashZAG coverage of the Tournament of Champions is made possible by the generous support of our sponsors:

MATCH in REVIEW – Gaultier vs. Clyne

squashtournamentofchampions — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 17:04:53 +0000

By David Uprichard

[2] Greg Gaultier (FRA)
Gaultier wins 3-0 11-6, 11-5, 11-5 33 Mins
[Q] Alan Clyne (SCO)

It was the St. Andrews cross on his wristband that first drew my attention to Scotsman Alan Clyne. He had already had a successful New York outing, making it through the the qualifying draw, where he defeated Yasir Butt (Pakistan) and Tom Pashley (England).

He had a tough, gritty look to him, and did not appear remotely intimidated by his first round opponent, defending champion, Gregory Gaultier of France. But making it through the qualifiers and winning in the first round at the Tournament of Champions are two entirely different matters (ask Adrian Waller!).

Right from the warmup, Greg looked intense, determined, and ready to go. “Twitchy” was actually the word used by an audience member beside me. Nor was he to be outdone in the patriotic sartorial department; the red, white and blue of France’s tricolour could be seen on the uppers of his shoes.

Using his trademark combination of length, insanely tight drop shots, and the ability to seemingly wrong foot his opponent at will, Gaultier was simply too strong for Clyne.

Squash can be that way: two guys battling it out for supremacy in a small, confined space, while one just exerts too much pressure on the other. Such was the case last night in what was ultimately a clinical 3-0 victory for the Frenchman.

Stay tuned, but I would expect more of the same in his next round against Colombian Miguel Angel Rodriguez.

Picture Galleries from the Tournament of Champions

squashtournamentofchampions — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 09:04:11 +0000

Click on the photo below to launch a slideshow

A Range of Photo Sets from the ToC by Robert White Photography

SquashZAG coverage of the Tournament of Champions is made possible by the generous support of our sponsors:

Page Six of the Tournament of Champions 2010 — Day 2

squashtournamentofchampions — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 08:08:58 +0000

By Will Gens
Squash Dashers & Bashers

After a late night at TOC Friday, home to write and some early morning lessons and training … okay, took a wonderful nap … I missed the afternoon session.

But the evening session was great, the best night of the year in the US squash world.

First off John Nimick is a class act, the tournament director has stopped using urban squash kids to mop up the floors and clean the glass, or at least from what I’ve seen. The referees seem to be doing quite a nice job. Last year I wrote an email to John Nimick about the use of urban squash kids, most of who are minorities, that it promotes stereotyping.

The tournament this year has an energy that is incredible, I’ve been coming here for most of the last 13 years, and there is just something great going on…Beth Rasin, I watched her in action, she juggles about 10 things all at once, never dropping a thing.

Back to squash, Shaun Lereaux, who lost to Wilstrop in the first round, interesting perspective on the qualifier or the “David” facing a “Goliath”. “You don’t go on the court thinking you are going to lose, but you go on the court maybe thinking you can hang with a top 10 player…” — for a game that is. So what does he take away from the experience, maybe the next time hanging with a top 10 player for a game and a half. The life of the qualifier, hard life, “financially very hard.” Peter Barker, how many years before he broke into the top 10? The love of this game…

Dunlop balls, lots of talk about this lately. Per a source close to the ball, so to speak, the white ball the pros use is a spongier (if that’s a word) ball than the black ones used. College, WISPA, PSA long term contracts to play with these balls, 5 years I think. This is one area not to copy the pros, it’s a lock, so for all the rest who play with this ball and are wondering did they change it, it’s inferior, simple as that. The Pinto of squash balls…

Mike Westin, head Pro at CityView squash and former touring professional is starting an elite development for younger players there with Touring Professional and great top 10/11 Wael Hindi. Mike is a really knowledgeable guy, great perspective on the Australian Institute of Sports and their squash development, they’ve had their day is what I’ve gathered. Mike is from New Zealand, would that have anything to do with his perspective?

Speaking of which, at the bar, met the best squash reporter on the planet Fram G. from squashsite.com, she is something…a French Woman without a glass of wine…but she had the quote of the day from Shabana or someone, concerning all the Egyptians, “their time has come…” but in the same breath…”what factory are they all from…shut down that factory!”

The Australians, the Pakistans, now the Egyptians, they seem to have all had their time, the one constant though are those amazing Brits, will the Americans have their time? Not any time soon, 20 year old Nicolas Mueller, qualifier, dispatched US #1 Illingsworth methodically. And he beat Chris Gordon in the qualifying round 2 as well. I asked him what was his strategy going in, he said Julian was a bit injured but he knew he was weak in the forehand court so he attacked him there…interesting, Mueller said while, like most players, he plays 75% of his shots to his opponents backhand, he played a lot more to the forehand. And what does Illingsworth do with his neck and upper body when covering the forehand drop. Mueller received a call from his mother, congratulating him, but the call Tuesday, no doubt will be her condolences after he faces Ramy Ashour #1 in the world — a learning experience, I think he said.

Back to Fram G. of squashsite.com — great bits on Frenchman Gaultier her country’s best player, and in my mind the real number 1 player in the world. At 11 years old he was doing 73 consecutive figure 8′s…go to totalsquash.com and check out Mark Chaloner doing 93, but Mark is not 11 and last I checked a top 100 pro. Fran G. had some great comments on Gaultier, he is “like a sponge, he picks up so much from the best players.” My son joined this conversation and talked about how Gaultier picked up from Lincou the head fake out of the front and in a 2003 match totally faked Nicol out. Fran G. responded with now he has absorbed a lot of Shabana…

Edy Kapur, head Pro at Sports Club/LA in the city, is on the mend — great seeing him about after a lengthy illness, he’s one of our favorites.

Rackets vs. Footwork vs. match play…both Gordon and Illingsworth don’t have top 20 footwork, I said, they have great rackets and they have played lots of matches from the time they were young, to fix technical flaws at this stage really tough, big step back to do this. We’ve had this argument about my son an aspiring pro, my son has the footwork of Ramy and great rackets, he’s a thing of beauty to watch, but he doesn’t have the matches, he’s a bit lazy, he doesn’t have the edge…just watch Palmer before a match and during a match, the edge, mentally and experience. A long rode ahead in the match play, but it’s all forward, no stepping back if my son wants it.

Hisham Ashour will do an interview and photo shoot with squashzag (squashzag.com) he is lean and mean and as stated earlier a great player. Boswell, sorry I missed your match, was taking that much needed nap, but like the post man, neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet, nor flood (something like that…it’s engraved on the old 8 th Ave. and 33rd street Post Office in the City) will keep me from watching you play Nick Mathew — tough call, you are both my two favorite players, and Boswell, a New Zealand qualifier, Shua, came up to me about my blog posting top 10 players I’ve seen of all time, of which you are there — he complimented me on your inclusion on that list.

Okay lights out, but this note I made, don’t confuse sportsmanship with complacency, will get to that when I’ve figured out what I meant. Might be something to ask Malcom Wilstrop about, he’s been around the tournament, which reminds me, his book, Play to Win Squash, is a must read — at the very least he can autograph it for me.

SquashZAG coverage of the Tournament of Champions is made possible by the generous support of our sponsors:

Qualifier Mueller and Unseeded Rosner Advance in J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions

squashtournamentofchampions — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 07:36:55 +0000

By Beth Rasin

Qualifier Nicolas Mueller got off to a nervous start in his very first appearance on the Grand Central glass court as he quickly fell behind 1-5 to Julian Illingworth, the five time US National champion. “It was a little overwhelming,” said Mueller, “even bigger and noisier than I could have imagined.”

But the Swiss squash player steadied himself and snared the first game 11-9. The highest ranking American ever on the PSA tour, Illingworth struggled in the second game as a sore wrist hampered his shotmaking.

With the crowd loudly in his corner, Illingworth gamely tried to challenge Mueller in the third and drew even at 9 all with some deft shotmaking and quick movement to the front of the court. But two tins by Illingworth gave Mueller the match and the opportunity to face world#1 Ramy Ashour in the second round.

Ashour defeated qualifier Mathieu Castagnet of France, 11-9,11-7,11-5. “He surprised me,” said Ashour. “But I was happy to be playing someone who was smart on the court. He read my boast well and to win the match, I had to be faster and make him work more.”

Qualifier Ryan Cuskelly got an early jump on world #2 Nick Matthew when he took the first game11-8.Midway through the second game, Cuskelly caught Matthew in the ankle with the ball. “I was a little flat in the first game and getting hit with the ball, which annoyed me, gave me the fire in the belly I needed to get going,” Matthew said. The Englishman started playing more aggressively and closed out the match against the 22 year old Australian, 8-11,11-6,11-2,11-7. Matthew’s second round opponent will be another Australian, Stewart Boswell, who eliminated Brazil’s Rafael Alarcon in three straight games.

France’s Gregory Gaultier began his defense of the title with a straightforward victory over qualifier Alan Clyne, 11-6,11-5,11-5. “I was real excited to come back here to Grand Central,” the defending champion said. “After a terrible year end with injuries, I am happy to be playing again, especially in a place where I feel so comfortable.”

Gaultier will next play Angel Miguel Rodriguez who defeated his countryman Bernardo Samper in four games. “There are only two professional squash players from Colombia, said Rodriguez, “and we end up playing each other in the first round.” Samper, a former US collegiate champion at Trinity College, got off to a fast start and took the first game. “I realized I had to put the pressure on him and not let him get to the T,” said Rodriguez, who took the lead as he pushed Samper further back in the court, winning the match 11-13,11-3,11-9,11-2.

Eighth seed Wael El Hindi, who cracked the PSA top ten for the first time in mid 2009, demonstrated a new seriousness of purpose when he showed up for his first round match against Hungary’s Mark Krajscak at the J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions in Grand Central Terminal. “I was a little more nervous this year because New York City is my home now, and I had a lot of friends and supporters in the crowd” said the Egyptian born player who is the touring pro at Cityview Racquet Club. In the early going, it was a nip and tuck match, with the lead exchanging hands on almost every point until El Hindi nabbed the game 11-9. Krajsack came back in the second, taking a 7-4 lead, but El Hindi held his ground to take the second game 11-8 and easily closed the match with an 11-6 third game win. “I have changed a lot of things in the last year to get stronger and fitter, because I realized that moving up in the rankings is about how many matches you can keep playing at the same level of intensity,” said the satisfied new New Yorker.

El Hindi’s second round opponent will be Germany’s Simon Rosner who handled sixteenth seed Renan Lavigne with relative ease in front of a capacity crowd in the nearly 500 seat stadium. “It is just a great feeling,” said the broadly smiling victor after the match. “I was nervous because I don’t often get to play on the glass court, and never in front of such a big crowd.” Rosner received some advice between games from his coach back home who phoned in coaching tips while watching the live webcast on SquashTV. Lavigne was sanguine about the 3-0 loss to his 22-year-old opponent. “I had decided about a month ago it was time for some new challenges,” said the 35-year-old Frenchman who has had some memorable battles on the Grand Central glass court. “I wasn’t mentally tough today, but I am glad to get play here one last time, especially because I wanted to bring my father, for his 62nd birthday present, to New York City see one of the best tournaments in the world.”

[8] Wael El Hindi (EGY) def. Mark Krajcsak (HUN)

11-9,11-8,11-6 45 mins

[4] Nick Matthew (ENG) def. [Q] Ryan Cuskelly (AUS)

8-11,11-6,11-2,11-7 60 mins

[10] Stewart Boswell (AUS) def. Rafael Alarcon (BRA)

11-6,11-5,11-3 32 mins

Simon Rosner (GER) def. [16] Renan Lavigne (FRA)

11-6,11-5, 11-9 35 mins

[Q] Nicolas Mueller (SUI) def. [15] Julian Illingworth (USA)

11-9, 11-7, 11-9 46 mins

[2] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) def. [Q]Alan Clyne (SCO)

11-6,11-4, 11-5 33 mins

[5] Ramy Ashour (EGY) def [Q]Mathieu Castagnet (FRA)

11-9,11-7,11-5 30 mins

[14] Miguel Rodriguez (COL) def. [Q] Bernardo Samper (COL)

11-13,11-3,11-9,11-2 49 mins

Schedule of play –Second round -J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions

Sunday, January 24, 2010 at Grand Central Terminal

11:30 AM TOC Girls Under17 Final

Noon 6] James Willstrop (ENG) v. Mod Ali A Reda (EGY)

12:45 PM – [3] Amr Shabana (EGY) v. [9] Alister Walker (ENG)

1:30 PM ToC Boys Under 17 Final

2:00 PM – [1] Karim Darwish (EGY) v. [12] Hisham M. Ashour (EGY)

2:45 PM – [7] David Palmer (AUS) v. [Q] Adrian Waller (ENG)

6:30 PM [5] Ramy Ashour (EGY) v. [Q]Nicolas Mueller (SUI)

7:15 PM [4] Nick Matthew (ENG) v. [10] Stewart Boswell (AUS)

8:00 PM [2] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) v. [14] Miguel Rodriguez (COL)

Squash Tournament of Champions

SQUASH – Lawyers, Petitions, Free Markets, Healthy Competition

Pro Squash Tour Launches Legal Action to Stop Player Ban Yesterday, the Pro Squash Tour filed a lawsuit in the state of New York. Named in the suit are the Professional Squash Association, Event Engine and John Nimick. The court document can be viewed here: PST Lawsuit vs. PSA, Event Engine, Nimick

Petition to Stop Ban, Precedent Limiting Players Participation in Non-PSA Events This change affects professional players as well as fans and supporters of the sport. This petition is intended to garner the support of all squash enthusiasts who oppose this ban.

Videos from the ToC

Fireworks at ToC

El Hindi Hangs On and Shabana Squeaks Into Quarterfinals

MATCH in REVIEW – Willstrop vs. Reda

MATCH in REVIEW – Shabana vs. Walker

MATCH in REVIEW – Gaultier vs. Clyne

Picture Galleries from the Tournament of Champions

Page Six of the Tournament of Champions 2010 — Day 2

Qualifier Mueller and Unseeded Rosner Advance in J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions

Pro Squash Tour Launches Legal Action to Stop Player Ban
Yesterday, the Pro Squash Tour filed a lawsuit in the state of New York. Named in the suit are the Professional Squash Association, Event Engine and John Nimick. The court document can be viewed here: PST Lawsuit vs. PSA, Event Engine, Nimick

Petition to Stop Ban, Precedent Limiting Players Participation in Non-PSA Events
This change affects professional players as well as fans and supporters of the sport. This petition is intended to garner the support of all squash enthusiasts who oppose this ban.