A Worthy Winner

By Brett Erasmus

Willstrop serves to start the 2010 Tournament of Champions finals. He hits a straight drive to a forehand length which beats Ashour for width. Ashour is too high up on the T and does not see the shot as it is a basically just a hard push off a hold at the front. It is simple, clean and well executed. And it gave us an idea of what is to unfold. Ashour, expectedly, starts hitting his shots and goes up 4-2, but then tries a high soft backhand lob – this shot does not bother 6 foot 4 Willstrop in the slightest and he wins the rally with a good length shot. Ashour quickly returns to his game plan (to win in the front) and starts dropping from everywhere. He is hitting everything as early as possible, trying to force the pace. He is even hitting half volleys from the middle of the court. He is winning points like this and is gaining confidence in his game plan.

Grand Open and the Rise in Women's Squash

Grand Open player Sarah Odell writes about "Squash Week" in NYC - TOC, Grand Open and the rise in Women's squash. FairGameNews.com: Is that SQUASH in Grand Central? Yep (just part of ’squash week’ in NYC)

It's an International Affair

By Brett Erasmus

It is semi-final night at Grand Central in the 2010 Tournament of Champions and we have 2 Egyptian players and 2 English players left in the draw. The first match of the night is Karim Darwish versus James Willstrop - world number 5 against world number 7. Darwish is favored (he is actually top seed for the tournament) but Willstrop has been looking good this week and anything can happen.

Willstrop starts off strong and soon takes charge. A few rallies in he hits a low angle into the front left corner, which is not a drop and not a trickle boast – it is in between those 2 shots. But it works and Darwish is left completely flat-footed right behind him, only a step away. I think he was fooled by a very high backswing from Willstrop. Irrespective, Darwish’s movement is suspect and his shots are loose to start with. Unforced errors soon appear in his game. He does still make good use of soft straight volley drops, especially off the back foot on the forehand, probably his best shot. Willstrop meanwhile is hitting devastating winners to the back of the court. Darwish looks settled in finally at the end of the game and hits 3 impressive but meaningless winners – he is too far back in points to catch up. Willstrop wins a pretty one-sided first game 11-6. In the 2nd, as you would expect, Darwish comes out shooting, but he hits a string of tins to go 0-4 down. Then the rallies get tight and Darwish claws his way back to 3-5, after hitting a cross-court drop off the forehand that finds Willstrop struggling to go down and to the left to retrieve the shot. The big man had surgery to his foot last year and we hope that this is not affecting his movement. But Willstrop is tough and does appear physically and mentally ready for this match. He continues using big backswings to keep Darwish on the back foot. He has a massive swing which anyone would struggle to deal with. Willstrop makes a few more errors going down and to the left again trying to reach moving boasts, but his length is still outstanding and wins him the game 11-5.

Genius at Work

By Brett Erasmus

So last night, in the second round of quarterfinal matches, the world numbers 1 and 2 showed why they deserve their rankings. Nick Matthew of England and Ramy Ashour of Egypt both progressed and will play each other in the semifinals tonight. Before that, at 6.30pm, the other semifinal will also feature an Englishman and an Egyptian - James Willstrop versus Karim Darwish.

Last night’s match between Ashour and the Frenchman Gaultier was the highlight of the tournament for me thus far, as we got to see Ashour’s full arsenal. Man this guy can hit some winners. It started in the warm up. Ashour’s 1st (yes first) 2 touches of the ball were dead nicks off the forehand. Gaultier picks up the ball and throws it away and asks the refs for another – because there must have been something wrong with the first one right? He was already in trouble. The game begins and Ashour’s first 2 winners are backhand drops, which he plays with a fully extended wrist. He follows this up shortly with a backhand cross-court volley into the nick at the front right. This was to be the first of many. Mid game you can tell Ashour has settled in as he starts using holds to move his opponent around the court, often catching him stepping in the wrong direction. Nevertheless, Gaultier is quick and wins a close fought game, but it was not entirely a victory as he was working way harder than necessary from very early in the match.

Who Wants It?

By Brett Erasmus

Photo Courtesy of Ira Veridiano

Last night in the first round of ToC quarterfinal matches, James Willstrop defeated Amr Shabana and Karim Darwish defeated David Palmer. Both players now move into the semi-finals on Wednesday, where they will face each other. My money is on Darwish. His game against Palmer last night was definitely the one to watch. Shabana lost in a quick 3.

Darwish has beaten Palmer pretty convincingly the last few times they have met on the professional tour. There was a time when Palmer had won every encounter, but since Darwish got married to a top women’s professional, Engy Kheirallah, it has been a pretty one-sided affair. Additionally, Palmer’s best days appear to be behind him. He is 34 years old, a time when most professional players seriously consider retiring. The beating their bodies take is tough to withstand. 34 to 35 years old seems to be the age that most players call it a day in the PSA.

ToC fireworks

By Brett Erasmus

Rob White Photography

Well, we are down to the final 8 at the Tournament of Champions in New York 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 the let 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.

Let's Get Ready To Rumble!

By Brett Erasmus

Well, the qualifiers are over and today the prize fight starts for real. If you are playing in the Grand Open, also starting today (http://msra.net/tournaments/grandopen_entrants.asp), be sure to go over to Grand Central when you are done in order to watch the pros - the competition there will be just as fierce. In fact, the field for the Tournament of Champions is wide open this year and anyone could win it. The draw is full of players who are at the top of their professional game. Let's take a little look at the quality of players in the main section:
First off, as you would expect, we have last year’s ToC winner, as well as the winner from the year before. Then we have the current world number 1 and 2 players, as well as the guy who held the number 1 spot for most of last year. We have the most recent US Open Champion, and we have the current US National Champion. We also have all the top professionals from New York, New Jersey and Philadelphia in the draw. Then finally, just for good measure, we throw the best players that Princeton and Trinity College have ever produced right into the mix. There is a reason it is called the Tournament of Champions. Keep checking back as we uncover all the names and results on this blog site.
It is clear that any one of a handful of players has the talent and ability to win this thing - it just depends on who has the current strength, support and motivation to do it. It truly is anyone's title and it's going to be awesome to watch them fight it out….. "Let’s Get Ready to Rumble!"

Squash Blogs

Like our blog? Want more squash online? We will be posting more soon but in the mean time the Squashist, a fellow squash blogger, has compiled a great list of squash blogs, check it out: The Squashist: The Mind Wanders...

SquashZAG, another great squash blog has also compiled a list of squash blogs, including a ton of squash websites: SquashZAG Links

All Guts, All Glory

By Brett Erasmus

Last week, the Trinity College squash team, who are on the longest winning streak of any American collegiate sports team in history (undefeated for 11 years now), played a few exhibition matches at clubs in the city. How many squash teams do you know of, that actually do road shows like this? Despite being marketed only to Trinity Alumni, these events were well attended, owing to the massive popularity of this team. They are the best young players from several countries around the world. And they are seriously like rock stars. Ask anyone who went to Trinity and they will tell you, it’s not just court-side where they are well known, it’s like that everywhere on campus. It’s all jokes and smiles and signing autographs, as they push through the crowd. These guys are awesome.

So anyway, if you are a fan and watched a bit last week, but only got a taste for the action and desperately want to see more topflight squash, then do I have good news for you: The world’s best professional squash players will be competing in the Tournament of Champions starting next week. And, because the entrance fee is pricey and economic times are tough, allow me to tell you how you can watch the world’s best without paying a cent:

You can watch qualifying games at the StreetSquash Center in Harlem next week (http://www.streetsquash.org/get-involved/directions/),

You can also watch opening rounds in Long Island City next Wednesday and Thursday (http://www.cityviewracquet.com/squash.asp),

You can volunteer to be part of the ToC team at Grand Central (ushering services, very easy job) - the volunteer form is at www.tocsquash.com under Volunteer,

If you are a women 5.0 or a men’s 5.5 (or stronger) you can still sign up for the Grand Open Tournament (http://www.msra.net/tournaments/GrandOpen_index.asp),

You can even get your kids in (U13, U15, U17), if they play in the junior tournament, look under ToC Junior Open at www.tocsquash.com,

Failing that, you can just show up and watch from the all-glass front wall, like I normally do, where there will be standing room.

All the info you need is at www.tocsquash.com. It’s almost Squash Week in New York - it’s going to be entertaining, just like Shark Week, except the action will be live and it’s all guts, all glory (and hopefully not gory).

Winter Warm-Up Recap

By Josh Giesey

This past Sunday the MSRA, with help from StreetSquash, hosted the First Annual Winter Warm-up, part of the MSRA's new One Day Tournament series.  This tournament was designed to give New York area squash players tournament style matches before this years Grand Open.  Thirty Eight players filled all 8 of the StreetSquash courts throughout the day, playing tough, competitive, fast-paced matches.  Of the days overall draw the men's lower levels had strongest representation with 21 players filling two groups for each the 3.0 and 3.5 divisions.  The women's draws showed good numbers as well with 12 entrants split between a 3.0 and 4.0 draw.  While the MSRA organized the event in a tournament fashion, the overall spirit was one of sportsmanship with many players hopping on available courts just to hit or to squeeze in an extra game or two with player outside of their draw.  For instance, two 3.0 and one 3.5 mens players filled entrants in higher draws who cancelled allowing for the draws to be played without interruption (thanks Josh, John and Andrew!).  All 3 players displayed great determination and gave the higher level players tough, close matches, despite being outranked and playing double the number of matches.

MSRA Spotlight on Martha Kelly

By Corey Modeste

Martha grew up just outside of Philadelphia and picked up a racquet for the first time as a 14 year-old at Episcopal Academy. What started out as a desire simply to confirm her choice for a winter sport turned into a competitive outlet when she became more active in junior squash competition a few years later. The resources and squash base at Episcopal Academy and in Philadelphia in general were great (Episcopal was generally the strongest team in the Philadelphia-area scholastic leagues), and Martha also had the benefit of having her equally-talented big sister Ruth on her high school team. Unfortunately, Martha never had the opportunity to play at Episcopal's state of the art facility (pictured), which was completed in 2008.


Martha was recruited to play at Princeton and saw her perspective on the game change slightly. She was no less competitive (more so, in fact), but the focus was to train and grow as a team rather than garner individual results. Even if her position in Princeton 's top 10 line-up was more tenuous as a senior than when she started as a freshman, improving as a team and the team's national championship win in 2007 were more important. College squash was not without its individual victories, however. While older sister Ruth had the edge when they were juniors, Martha reports being satisfied with a head to head victory when she faced Ruth once in college.

A New Era Dawns

By Brett Erasmus (written May 22, 2009)

The MSRA this week (end of May last year) voted in Corey Modeste as their new president. Congratulations Corey! Most of you will know (or recognize) Corey from the various local tournaments, which he has, with the support of the MSRA members and many other volunteers, run with fervent passion for the last few years. In case you don't know, the MSRA is a non-profit organization made up of a vibrant young bunch of New Yorkers who work tirelessly (as volunteers) to facilitate all the leagues and tournaments in New York. They do a stellar job and the number of active squash players is increasing every year. The Hyder Cup last weekend is a perfect example of this. It has the largest entry

MSRA Player Jim Coddington Featured in the Wall Street Journal

Check out this great article about MSRA Yale 4.0 league captain Jim Coddington and how he stays in shape playing squash:WSJ Keeping His Eye on the Ball