Brett's Squash Blog

Will Ramy Roar in Richmond?

2012-02-14T09:30:00.000-08:00

Which of the world's best squash professionals will win the next big tournament on US soil, the North American Open next week. To watch this impressive promo video click HERE

There are three big Professional Squash Association (PSA) tournaments in the United States every season. The US Open was in Philly at the end of last year and the Tournament of Champions (ToC) just finished in New York. You would expect the third tournament to be in another major squash hub, like Boston, but it is not. It is two hours south of Washington DC, in Virginia.

Next week the 2012 Davenport North American Open kicks off at the Westwood Club in Richmond. The tournament has been held in Richmond, Virginia for nearly a decade now and, like the other two major PSA tournaments held in the US, it attracts all of the world's best professional squash players.

The field of players is generally the same between these three major squash tournaments in the US. The best PSA professionals the world has to offer compete for these titles and for the prize money on offer. In addition to the money, there are valuable tour points up for grabs, so it makes no sense for a top player to miss any of these three tournaments. Only injury prevents players from attending. The line up for next week is evidence of this. It includes seven former world number ones (all from Egypt, England or France) and the number one player from many other nations, e.g. Australia, Botswana, Canada, Colombia, Finland, Germany, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Pakistan, Scotland, Switzerland and the USA, amongst others.

USA number one Julian Illingworth will face Olli Tuonimen of Finland in the first round and should Julian win, he faces world number one from England, Nick Matthew, in the second round. A tough draw indeed. Illingworth can definitely win against Tuonimen though. They are ranked twenty six and twenty three in the PSA world rankings, respectively. Illingworth could use your support in his first round match at the event.

The most notable difference between this field and that which played in the US Open and ToC is the reinclusion of talented Egyptian, and former world number one, Ramy Ashour. Ashour has been sidelined with an injury since last October so he has not played in any recent US based competitions. He has struggled with injuries over the years. It is extremely unfortunate for him and for the whole squash world. Egyptian national team coach Amir Wagih recently said of Ashour, "Players like Ramy come along once every ten years, like Jonathon Power, Jahangir Khan and Peter Nicol, he is a gifted player from God." "Ramy just enjoys his squash wherever he plays. He is happy and excited to be playing his trade and watching him is like [listening to] Mozart or Beethoven." The fact that Ramy is healthy again is a huge plus as he is a massive draw for the event.

The players aside, there is another subtle distinction between the NAO and other tournaments that is worth noting. The US Open last year was run by a team of US Squash staff. These young men and women work incredibly hard day and night to keep squash running smoothly across the country. And last year they took on the US Open after it has been run (and sometimes not run) by individuals in prior years who were looking to profit from the event. The team at US Squash runs like a well-oiled machine and, not surprisingly, the tournament they hosted was pretty phenomenal. It will be in Philly again next year, you should go and watch. It is somewhat like going to the US Open tennis at Flushing, with the size of the event and the vendors on display. It is truly impressive.

The Tournament of Champions in New York is put on by a for profit company called Squash Engine Inc., which brings you various high profile squash events in the northeast (through a sister company Event Engine). ToC is held in Grand Central Station and gets a phenomenal amount of publicity. But, how could it not in that location? John Nimick, CEO of both Squash Engine and Event Engine, also got a President's award for his efforts from US Squash.

By way of contrast, the NAO tournament is in Richmond, Virginia. This city is one hundred miles south of Washington DC and is not a traditional hotbed of squash, so organizing a successful squash tournament there is not a given. All of the men and women (about twenty five of them) who spend months preparing for and organizing the event are volunteers. And the leader of the volunteer group is not someone you will see front and center of all the action at the event. He plays a supporting role, always coordinating things in private. He has run the event successfully for nine years, for the love of the game and to help promote squash in Virginia generally.

This man's name is Gus Cook and he is a local squash pro in Richmond. Gus is a former semi-pro player from England. Upon moving to the US he was asked to run professional squash tournaments, like the Motor City Open in Detroit and the Lakeshore Classic in Chicago. Gus moved to Richmond in 2002 to take up the spot as head professional and program director at the Country Club of Virginia. Given that he had previously enjoyed the experience of running tournaments he naturally wanted to do this again. And this would be a fitting way to celebrate the completed construction of three international courts at his new club.

It was a humble beginning and the prize money at the first running of the tournament was only $10,000. In subsequent years the event moved to an all glass court set up at the University of Richmond (2006 - 2010), offering seating for four hundred spectators. Last year the NAO moved to the Westwood Racquet Club with seating for over five hundred people including a VIP skybox and restaurant viewing for several hundred more. The tournament is now one of only ten PSA World Series events held worldwide each year and the NAO purse for 2012 is an impressive $115,000.

Given the expansions and the personal involvement of Gus Cook, many of the best professional players in the world started showing up to play. Gus knows how to give the pros what they expect, in terms of transport, accommodation and entertainment, but he also knows how to run a large team of volunteers and get the best out of each of them. Today the event hosts every one of the world's best players and there is no other like it. Gus has achieved his personal goal of creating a buzz about squash and showcasing the best the PSA has to offer.

And he has achieved so much more for the game itself. So much so that the Governor of Virginia is attending on Wednesday February 22nd and will be proclaiming that day 'Virginia Squash Day'. Squash is growing at every level in Virginia. There are more men, women and juniors playing the game now than ever before by a significant margin. The University of Virginia is only an hour away and they are about to start building a brand new complex with eleven singles courts and two doubles courts. They can do this, in part, because of the success and increased exposure the North American Open has experienced. Ground has been broken on a new public multi sports club in the Far West End that will offer two singles and one hardball doubles court which will attract one hundred players to join even before its opening later this year.

Hopefully in the near future, Virginia will house many more singles and doubles courts and the squash community there will grow even bigger and stronger, and could perhaps even rival the bigger northeast cities in participation in national events. Squash will then inevitably be on the radar of more southern universities and colleges. There are already two high school teams in the Richmond area, with several more keen to get started in the near future and both the University of Richmond and University of Virginia have club team programs. An adult team league competition has over two hundred players and is steadily increasing all the time. This popularity is owing, in part, to the continued success and heightened profile of the North American Open over the years.

If you want to watch the tournament next week, ESPN3 will be broadcasting the semifinals and finals live on Friday February 24th and Saturday February 25th respectively. All the main round matches can be seen live online at Squash TV, the official live and video on demand website of the PSA. Or even better, go there to watch it for yourself. You can buy a ticket to attend the event at NAO website, get a direct flight from NYC on Delta or Continental, and book a stay at one of the many hotels in the Downtown, West End or Short Pump districts of Richmond. You will be glad you did.

It's gonna roar in Richmond again this year. Not just because Ramy Ashour is back from injury, but because of the committed efforts of the unsung heroes who so graciously host this event year after year.

Ramy Ashour gives a victory salute, will he roar back to the podium in Richmond?

Q&A with Nick Matthew

2012-01-20T10:53:00.000-08:00

Nick Matthew in a match against a big rival recently, Amr Shabana

Nick Matthew is easily one of the best English professionals in the history of the game of squash, a sport invented in the country of his birth. He was PSA world number one for all of 2010, has been world champion twice, has two Commonwealth individual gold medals and has led his English compatriots to the World Teams title twice, and the European Teams title seven times. On American soil he has won North American Open twice and the US Open once. Unfortunately though, he has never won the Tournament of Champions (ToC) in New York. This could change in the next week and he could potentially add this title to a long list of tournament wins during his illustrious career. I asked Nick Matthew a few general questions yesterday in New York. You can read his answers, some of which may surprise you, below.

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BE: Mr. Matthew, after returning strongly from a career threatening shoulder injury, you have been number one in the world for most of the last eighteen months, but recently injured your adductor (groin, basically) and have been out of action for about two months. That must have hurt, especially considering that during that time you have lost your number one spot to countryman, James Willstrop. Would you agree that this was a pretty tough break, given how hard you have worked to get to number one (and the fact that you have not lost to James in the last three years)?

NM: I think it was my body telling me something and I feel fresh after the break. Only time will tell if it has done me good or not. Last year I was incredibly fortunate to spend the entire twelve months as world number one and I won the title that is most important to me, the World Open, so I can’t complain too much.

BE : Are you over the adductor injury at this point and are you fully ready for ToC over the next week? If you win you go back to world number one, right? How do you rate your chances of winning ToC? This would be your first victory in the event. I know the New York crowd would love to see you do it.

NM: I have been a Tournament of Champions finalist three times previously, so have played well in the past, without quite getting past the finish line and actually winning the event. But I love playing here and the body feels in good shape now. Hopefully once I have a couple of matches under my belt I will be back close to my best.

BE: We heard you pretty much broke up an on court fight recently at the British Junior Open (as a spectator during a match between two youngsters). This does not surprise me. You are very fair on court and often take matters into your own hands with your opponents when the referee decisions become, how shall I say, questionable. You are a good ambassador for the game. Have you always taken a leadership role like this, does it come naturally to you?

NM: Not at all, it was at my home club and I was trying to set an example to the juniors that this is not the way you behave when you lose. I’m not pretending to be perfect, far from it, but have learned from experience in these matters.

BE: Who designed your t-shirts? They are pretty unique and you certainly stand out in them. I did not like them initially but they are kind of growing on me, they somehow seem more formal than the usual attire. You are playing Wael El Hindi in the first round and given his fashion sense you two will make for an interesting match-up in the clothing department.

NM: It was an entire accident that my kit ended up that way, we just tried to put those colours together in a different style and, like it or not, it gets people talking, which is a good thing I think. Wael is a good friend and colourful character. But, first and foremost, I hope people will see a good game of squash between us this Saturday.

BE: We understand you see the same massage therapist, Richard DeVito, every time you come to the US to play in tournaments. How much would you say it matters to have someone like Richard available to you during events? I am guessing it is invaluable, as your superb physical condition is something that distinguishes you from many of the other top players in the world.

NM: Yes, I worked with Richard for the first time in the US Open in 2007, which I won that year. So, ever since then, I have been seeing him whenever I come to New York. He is a top therapist and helps me to get over the jet lag and the long flight. I am lucky that Richard has gotten to know my body now, which takes time, even for a fantastic therapist, as every athlete's body is different. It is great to have a therapist of Richard's quality close at hand.

BE: Congratulations on your recent World Open win. What does it mean to you to have two world championships under the belt? You are one of only five English world number ones in history, and are certainly the only English player ever to have successfully defended a world championship title. That is a phenomenal achievement of which you must be very proud. Given the perspective of history, has what you have done here actually sunk in yet?

NM: It has probably not really sunk in yet. I think there is still a lot more to achieve and as much as you need to enjoy these moments when they happen, you find yourself naturally and quickly moving on to the next goal.

BE: We understand you are still a student of the game, even whilst at world number one, and are constantly looking to improve and are therefore prepared to listen to the opinions of anyone bold enough to give you advice on how to be better. Is this true? Do you really listen to everybody? More importantly, do you still anticipate getting better?

NM: You never know when a really good nugget of advice will crop up, so I try to listen to everyone. It does not mean I will try to implement everything I hear, that would be impossible. I am fortunate enough to have a great team around me who gives me fantastic advice and guidance every day.

BE: Since Dave Pearson left England as national coach and moved to the US, have you noticed the change. Is he missed, do you think?

NM: Actually, I see more of DP now than when he was national coach so the change has worked well for me in the end. He visits the US with Chris Gordon a fair bit but most of his time is still in the UK.

BE: What do you see for yourself in the future, after your squash playing career? Will you stay fully connected to the game, as a coach for instance, or do you have some other dreams and desires you wish to fulfill?

NM: I will always be connected to the game of squash, I’m sure of that. I see myself being based in the UK with an academy and helping to nurture the next generation of top English players. Of course, I would love to come to the US for a month here and there, but home is always home for me. I am also fortunate enough to have ambassadorial roles with Dunlop and Hi-Tec in the pipeline, which I will be remain passionate about when I retire.

BE: Later this year London will host the Summer Olympics. Sadly, squash will not be a part of it. Will you be there to watch irrespective and support the English athletes? What would it mean to you - and to the game generally - if squash got into the 2020 games during the IOC vote later this year?

NM: I read that Nicol David recently said that she would trade her six world titles for an Olympic gold medal. I think I would do the same with my two world titles, especially with the Olympics being held in London. Though, I do have mixed feelings about the Olympics. Obviously I am gutted that squash is not there, but I do have friends in other sports competing in the upcoming Olympic Games, all of whom I would love to see do well.

BE: Finally, if I may be so bold as to ask, who is the squash opponent you fear most today, and why?

NM: The guys at the top today are all so strong. I am not sure fear is the right word, but Ramy has a ridiculous amount of weapons at his disposal, and Shabana has been there, done it and now sells the t-shirts. So, I respect those two probably above all.

BE: Nick, thank you very much for your time, and best of luck for your ToC matches, you will no doubt do very well over the next week.

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Nick’s first ToC match is against Wael El Hindi, New York based Egyptian professional who recently signed with the PST. Wael is having one more go in a PSA tournament before he switches tours. Their match is scheduled for 12.45pm Saturday January 21st in the Vanderbilt hall at Grand Central Station in New York. If you can make it there to watch, you should, you won't be disappointed.

Nick Matthew, a gentleman on and off the squash court

Cornell Takes it to Trinity

2012-01-14T19:39:00.001-08:00

The Trinity College Mascot above the squash offices, a blue and yelllow Bantam

The Trinity College Men's Squash Team has won two hundred and fifty consecutive college matches over the course of the last thirteen years. It is the longest unbeaten streak in the history of US college sports. The men's team coach, Paul Assaiante, is now a legend of the game and is the current US National head coach. He even consults for the New England Patriots football team. He knows how to get the best out of a sports team.

But today, Friday January thirteenth, at 12pm, he humbly stands on his favorite court, the one next to his office, hitting the ball in a friendly practice game with a few of his students. He has a huge playful smile on his face. There is music blaring. Everyone is having fun. Paul looks completely at ease and his enthusiasm is infectious. He is keeping his boys calm and relaxed before their first big test of the season in the match against Cornell later in the day.

Now, many pundits and bloggers (myself included) have predicted, purely based on paper, that this year Trinity will lose a college match and the streak will be over. Trinity College has come very close to losing many times in the last few years, and this season they have lost a few top players, who have graduated from college. And the other college teams have gained strong players at the top of their respective line ups. Trinity's strength relative to the other teams still remains in its depth though. They have good squash players all the way down to number nine. The schools who are their biggest competition have recruited some very strong squash players for the top of their line ups. In the next week Trinity plays more of these schools, notably Yale and Harvard, but their first big test is against Cornell, who look extremely strong and may very well be the team to end the streak.

And, for the superstitious, it was Friday the thirteenth and anything can happen, right.

When I walked into the Ferris Athletic Center just after the 5pm start, the cheering from the George Kellner squash complex on the third floor could be heard from the entrance to the building. Clearly, the matches had begun and already it was tightly contested.

Perhaps this was to be the end of an era. The large crowd of Cornell spectators who came down to Hartford to watch certainly thought so. In the early stages of the evening, the Cornell cries of support were loud and overshadowed that of the Trinity faithful. The Cornell clan came to support their team and to witness what I am sure they had hoped would be a historic victory. And so did I, admittedly, but only so that I could reflect on Trinity's incredible achievement and write about how gracious they were in defeat, of course...(!)

On court six, Trinity number six Juan Moses Flores is in a huge battle. He is 1-0 down in games and now 1-1 in points in the second game when I go over to watch. He wins the next long rally and Assaiante comes over to the court and calls to the predominantly blue and yellow Trinity crowd behind that court to encourage him. He knows which of his players need the support and when. He knows his boys well and can tell by their body language where they stand in a match. Moses plays well but the Cornell player is retrieving well and he gutses it out and wins the match 3-0. First blood to Cornell.

Trinity are one match down and it is best of nine matches; first to win five wins the whole thing. A few minutes later Paul has few quiet words with Moses, in between the games he is refereeing. Paul looks earnest, but I am sure he had nothing but words of encouragement and praise for the young man. It is just a sport after all. And Moses did his best. That is all Paul ever asks of his players.

Meanwhile, on neighboring court five, Trinity’s number nine, Elroy Leong, a good left handed player, comes back after losing the first game to tie the match at 1-1. The third game is very tight. The crowd support is split evenly in their support for the the two men on court. The game is close and Leong saves two game balls at 10-7 in the third but eventually goes down in that game. The Cornell player looks solid in the fourth. Assaiante is encouraging Leong from the back with nods and stares. The referee calls are bothering Leong though, and he starts making errors. The pressure is getting to him. He ends up match ball down in the fourth. He saves a few points but goes down in the end. Cornell are two love up in matches at this point.

Fortunately for Trinity, the number three match result on the glass court in the hall next door is a bit of a foregone conclusion. Miled Zarazua, a player who is making his debut for the team after only just being cleared to play by the CSA, wins it for Trinity 3-0 in pretty orderly fashion. Zarazua is the Mexican junior champion and big things are expected of him, his win at three was no surprise. But Trinity are still 2-1 down and, most notably, they have lost at numbers nine and six. Everyone knows (or thinks) that the Bantams are banking on their lower order players for the win. So the score line theoretically does not bode well for them. The Cornell supporters are visibly excited. Their collective sense of belief in the real possibility of a win is growing by the second.

Next up on court six for Trinity is an energetic likeable young man from Bloemfontein, South Africa named Reinhold ('Rye') Hergeth. Trinity has actually had a host of players from that small town in the past. Rye is playing a kid from Toronto. The Canadian is good, but he appears somewhat overconfident. Rye comes out of the gate looking strong, he is all business. He knows his team is down and he fully understands the consequences of his match. If he loses, his team goes three one down in matches and they will be in big trouble.

Rye is totally focused on the task at hand and is playing extremely well in this match. He is hitting very tight drops and making some really good angled shots on the front wall, ala Amr Shabana, that finish just above the tin. He is catching his opponent with these a lot. Then he hits a Ramy Ashour style backhand volley cross court nick to effectively finish off the first game. He continues to use more flicks and hits more nicks in the second. He is on fire. Rye wins the second game and, after the final point of this game is over, his opponent hits the ball away in complete frustration, as he is surprised to be losing and is angry with himself. Rye ignores it and just opens the door anyway, and steps aside to allow his opponent to exit first, just like he did at the end of the first game which he won. Reinhold is a complete gentleman, even at the height of battle. The Cornell player is slow to return to the court. Rye has been back on court for about sixty seconds already, hitting the ball to himself; he wants to finish this.

At the start of the third, Rye works his counterpart from corner to corner with deft touch and perfect length. Also, he takes the ball extremely early and this pace is too quick for the Cornell player. Rye is playing out of his skin at this point, he looks like any professional squash player you can watch at the Tournament of Champions in New York. This match is over. Rye has squared the overall score against Cornell at 2-2. There is no big applause when Rye wins his match, everyone is watching the number two match on court one, the all glass court. Nevertheless, very importantly, Rye has firmly exclaimed (mostly for the benefit of his teammates) that Trinity will not let go of their number one status without a fight.

After Rye's short match ended, Trinity number eight, Mustafa 'Moose' Hamada, is still busy on court five. He hears of Rye's swift victory and is energized by this good news. He completely takes control of his match. I think this is a match Trinity expected to win anyway. 'Moose' is confident and finishes off his opponent in three. The overall score goes to 3-2 Trinity. The momentum has shifted.

At this point the number two’s are still busy on the glass court. The large crowd, which covers the sides and the overhanging balcony, is split evenly behind the two players. The rallies have been long and the game score is still only at 1-1. The two players are having a huge battle. Most of the crowd is watching this match. No surprise, these are two exceptionally good squash players.

Antonio 'Rico Suave' Diaz Glez, the Trinity player, is physically much bigger than the Cornell guy but Rico is getting outmuscled during all the interference and is, somewhat surprisingly, playing through what should have been many lets and strokes for him. Rico is a talented and very honest squash player. You can see he wants to win it fair and square. He does not complain when he is knocked off the ball or when the interference is unnecessary, he just plays through it, and hangs in there. He is playing like a champion.

The match is incredibly close. There is nothing between these two. After going 2-1 down, Rico regroups and has a phenomenal fourth and and the fifth and deciding game ensues.

In the end Rico is match ball down at 10-9 in the fifth. After a long hard rally he saves the point, much to the crowd’s delight, but quickly ends up match ball down again at 11-10. He plays admirably and holds that point too. And then wins the next to earn Trinity a match ball. He turns and glares at the huddle of his fellow Bantam teammates. He knows he has done it and he wanted his teammates to know it too. It was a short but meaningful moment. These guys are a strong unit. They all knew what was at stake. After a long impressively tight final rally, Rico wins it. The home section of the crowd goes crazy.

Rico just pulled off an epic come from behind win. Had he lost, the overall score between the teams would have been tied at 3-3 with three matches to play. This means that the entire tie would go down to the wire and be won by one match by either team. Instead, Trinity go 4-2 up and need to win only one of the next three matches in order to take the tie. It was almost over at this point.

Paul Assaiante emerges back into the main arena by courts five and six. He has a steely look on his face and a glint in his eye. He walks by the back of the courts slowly, and gives a little smile to the crowd beside him. He knows the tide has turned and he senses victory. This is the first time I have seen him smile this evening. Also, when I see this, I feel a twinge of embarrassment, given that I previously predicted that Trinity would lose this season. But I am not really that embarrassed, I am happy that the Trinity guys are winning. I think they deserve it.

Next up are numbers four, Johan Detter, number seven, Matthew 'Mackie' Mackin, and number one, Vikram Malhotra. The starts are staggered with Johan up first, then Mackie starting a little after, then Vikram on court one next door. The crowd knows that any one of these three gents can finish it off for Trinity and everything goes quiet for a little while. The anticipation in the air is palpable.

The first of the final three deciding matches to kick off are the number fours on the team. Johan Detter is the younger brother of Trinity legend, Gustav Detter (Gustav saved the streak a few years back with a come from behind win of his own). Johan is playing against a Cornell player with the same risk averse style of play as himself and they are in a war of attrition. After a bad loss in the second game, with the match tied at 1-1, Johan has a lot to hear from Coach Paul. Johan is seated next to him and switches out of his sweaty shirt into a fresh one. I am sure Paul reminded him that they only needed one more win out of three matches to finish it and beat Cornell and that he should take his time about it. He needed to shake off that second game. There was no rush to win. Trinity had the advantage.

Johan returns to the court and starts off strong. Next door, after a somewhat long warm up period, the number sevens have finally started play. A few minutes later the number ones will step on court to begin their warm up. By now, Johan is well into his third game; he is looking mentally refreshed and stronger. His teammate, Rico (who just came back from near death during his match) shouts a word of encouragement to Johan from the back of the court. The bonds in this team are strong. These guys bleed for each other.

The third game is hard going for both players on court. The Cornell kid is fit and is ready to run. He has extremely efficient feet and hands. But neither player is going for anything. The rallies are endless. I count the exchanges. They have numerous rallies in excess of fifty shots. These players are running each other into the ground. Neither wants to be the one to potentially screw up and end the evening's fortunes for his respective teammates. Understandably.

Mackie comes off court five after winning a tight first game and gets word of Johan's efforts. Detter is killing himself next door. Paul has a quiet word with Rye, who is refereeing the Detter match, no doubt to give him the good news from court six where Mackie is a game up and looking strong. Paul has a broad smile on his face by now. A few minutes later, Johan nicks a forehand deep cross court to go 9-7 and then closes out game three. He is 2-1 up and Trinity are one squash game away from victory.

Mackie is the Trinity number seven and he is totally fired up when he hears of his teammate's efforts. Right about now the number one's are starting play.

As Detter resumes his fourth game with a 2-1 lead the players have another incredibly long rally. Johan's opponent looks exhausted now. This has been very clean, very disciplined squash by both players. These guys are both trying not to make an error. But Detter is playing a little tighter and is taking the ball a little earlier and he has a reach advantage. This marginal difference is counting. His opponent tires to the point where Detter is visibly in control now. After five of the longest hardest rallies you can imagine the Cornell player is doubled over and has both hands on his knees. It looks like it is all over and Johan will be the one to deliver the killer blow.

Little does Detter know that he has inspired Mackie who is already 10-4 up in the third and has numerous match balls to finish it. It takes three more rallies to finish off his opponent but when he does the Trinity gallery just erupts. They have done it!!

At this very moment Detter serves with his first match ball. His opponent is diving and sliding on his knee pads to all corners of the court in absolute desperation. These players heard the roar from next door, but that could mean anything, they don't know it is over and Trinity have already won.

The best part is, in between the time that Detter and Mackie have been dueling their respective opponents, next door the Trinity number one, Malhotra, has just crushed his opponent 3-0. I did not see a point of it. The match could have been barely twenty minutes, not even. A large crowd of yellow and blue rushes over to watch Detter finish. It takes literally four match balls, including two additional let rallies, but he wins it in front of the whole Trinity crowd. In a way, he started it and he finished it. A fitting end.

The unity of this team is tangible and beautiful to witness.

If Paul Assaiante's goal is to remove fear and engender collective pride and responsibility in his players in order to bring out their best on court, then he has totally succeeded. Again. And it really showed tonight. Anything could have happened when they were two matches down, but the boys got through it as a team.

And thereby the Trinity winning streak remains intact. I think it is safe to say that the rumors of their demise were greatly exaggerated. At least for now...

Any team who wants to beat them in the next few weeks is seriously up against it.

The full results are at USSquash.com

A
wall of recognition at the back of Trinity's George Kellner Squash Complex

Q&A with Yasir Butt

2011-12-19T11:43:00.000-08:00

Yasir Ali Butt, Pakistani professional squash player

Yasir Ali Butt is a professional squash player from Lahore, Pakistan. He is a friend of Baset Chaudhry, of Trinity College fame. They played together on the Pakistani junior national team. Yasir is currently a member of the senior national team, the team that underperformed in the world champs in Paderborn, Germany, a few months ago and was then controversially banned by the Pakistani Squash Federation from playing any events in his home country for eighteen months.

So he recently moved to the US to pursue his squash career.

Since arriving on US soil Yasir has played in a few PSA events (Dayton Open and the Florida Open) and has done very well, testing a few higher ranked players along the way. He beat Adrian Grant, world number nineteen and gave Alister Walker, New York based world number seventeen, a run for his money. He also recently won the Gold Racquets 'amateur' tournament, after beating US number two Chris Gordon in the finals. Butt is number two in Pakistan after Aamir Atlas Khan, a nephew of the great Jansher Khan.

Yasir is soft spoken and well dressed off the court. On the squash court he is a machine. He is clearly very focused on his squash career. He has been as high as forty in the world; but after suffering injuries and being banned from playing at home is currently ranked seventy two. As a result of his recent successes, he should move back up in the new rankings that come out on January first (when Mr. Willstrop will be at world number one for the first time).

It is great that Yasir is achieving success in the US after being banned from playing in his home country. Perhaps, given that he is free from all the distracting politics back home and can now focus on his squash, it would not be a surprise if he went a lot higher in the squash world rankings in the near future.

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BE: There have been so many great Pakistani squash players. The best three players in history are from your home country. Who were the heroes that inspired you to start playing squash and to work hard and accomplish what you have in the sport?

YB: There are many current and former squash players whom I like very much, but, the legend who is my inspiration is Jahangir Khan.

BE: Congratulations on your recent performances on the PSA tour in the United States. This year you have been in three tournament finals, causing many upsets along the way. And you beat American number two Chris Gordon in the finals of the Gold Racquet tournament a few weeks ago. You are recapturing the form that got you to the top forty in the world three years ago. That is great. To what do you attribute this recent success?

YB: I seriously injured my ankle during a training session last year, which prevented me from participating in PSA Tour events for almost six months. My first task was to overcome this career threatening injury. Thanks to my physio who helped me through this. And the second task was to become match fit. For this I spent more time on court and in the gym doing physical training with my trainer, Zahid Butt. With the help of God almighty and millions of prayers of my parents, my hard work paid off in the USA. As far as causing upsets by beating some of the higher ranked players, it wasn't the first time for me. I am very capable of beating top twenty players and I have done it many times before.

BE: What happened to the Pakistani team at the World Champs? It seems there were some serious disagreements between the coaching staff and the players but what were these? Everyone has read various versions of the story but nobody knows what the real issue was. It would be great if you could tell us what really happened in your own words.

YB: Let me correct you. Firstly, there was no coaching staff. There was no coach appointed by the Pakistani Squash Federation for the World Champs. There were not even any training camps conducted to prepare for the big event. As you know, playing in World Champs is entirely different from playing in PSA events, and much of the outcome of the matches depends on the coach's strategy and how he best utilizes his players. But, unfortunately, the person who flew to Germany with us as manager was not capable of doing all the things that would ordinarily be required of a professional squash coach. As a result, we ended with the lowest finishing position in this event in the history of Pakistani Squash.

BE: As a result of the world champs debacle you and a few fellow teammates were banned from playing in tournaments in Pakistan for some time. This makes no sense to me. If the country wants to do better at squash then they should have gone the other way, and locked you guys in a squash court, not banned you from the game. How do you feel about the ban? How has it affected you?

YB: Yes, the squash federation banned three of us. Another player, who lost more matches than the rest of us, was given a warning only. Unfortunately, the rest of the leadership were misled by the secretary of Pakistani Squash Federation who was appointed as a manager during the World Champs and who was trying to justify his position as manager. Then the issue of us being banned wasn't justifyable and even against the bylaws of the Pakistani Squash Federation. Squash legend, Jahangir Khan, added that no executive committee can take disciplinary action against players.

"An independent committee should be formed comprising former squash players to look into this matter," he said, "The federation's officials have no authority to take such a decision."

The Pakistani Squash Federation should appoint an independent committee to proceed on this issue where players can present their point of view without any fear of repercussion. This has affected me negatively in my career. Whenever my country has needed me on the court, I was there from my heart and soul and without any greed for wealth. I have always wished to play for my country and felt proud to wear the green jacket. I have sent an appeal to the new management of Pakistani Squash Federation to have a look at this matter and remove this illegal ban. We are still playing squash outside of our country but unfortunately Pakistan has lost the services of some of the best available talent due to this ban. This is a real loss for Pakistani Squash.

BE: Do you know fellow Pakistani professional squash player, Maria Toorpakai Wazir? Is she a friend and do you think she will achieve her goal of becoming world number one? Do you think she is better off in Toronto than back home in Pakistan?

YB: No, she is not a friend of mine. I have seen her playing though and she is a good squash player, but Pakistan is a developing country and we have very limited resources. Even so, we have had a thread of champions in the past. There are many more talented girls and boys who are left behind just because of limited resources. I think Maria is in good hands now and she should avail herself of the opportunity.

BE: Many of the world's top professional squash players are deciding to be based in the United States. Aside from the PST players there are various PSA playing pros based in New York now. Did this influence your decision to come here?

YB: Yes. This is one of the reasons that I came to the US. Here I will get to play squash with many of the best squash players based in the US. I am a professional player and America has always had a big squash circuit. And as a professional player I always want to play squash and prove my skills in this part of the world, like I have in other parts of the world previously.

BE: Where do you live in New York? With whom and where do you train when you are in the city?

YB: Currently I live in Westchester and am training with Ajaz Azmat. He has been helping me to improve my mental approach towards the top ten players, as well as with court craft, which helped me in my recent events. Anyway, I do train on regular basis and according to my predetermined plan, no matter where in the world I am located at that time.

BE: If you are to be based in the US going forward do you think you will ever become a playing member of the local Pro Squash Tour? Or do you have bigger aspirations on the worldwide PSA tour? You are only twenty four years old and it is clear that you still have a lot of upside potential.

YB: As I said, I am a professional squash player and I love playing squash and I would consider the PST if they made me an offer. But, as you know, some of the older squash players like Palmer, Lincou and Shabana are still playing in the PSA top ten. So, assuming I can also maintain a high level of fitness, I am sure I will be playing professional squash for at least the next five to eight years. And I consider myself capable of doing big things. I feel my best years are still ahead of me.

BE: What do you think needs to change about the sport in Pakistan in order to ensure that many more squash champions emanate from that country?

YB: For the revival of squash in Pakistan, the late Mushaf Ali Meer who started a junior program to prepare a new breed of squash players to bring back the glory of Pakistan in the squash world. His vision became reality when Pakistan regained its glory at the junior level. Unfortunately, life did not gave him enough time to see his bigger vision come true. The current players, including myself, who are representing Pakistan in the squash world and are trying to keep the green flag flying, all come from this program. What we need in the future is sincere squash leadership, someone like the late Mushaf Ali Meer. We need a leader who has vision and who has a love for the game of squash.

BE: Yasir, thank you for granting this interview and good luck with everything in the future.

Yasir, relaxed and in control, setting up for a backhand

Blood, Sweat and Cheers

2011-12-09T15:30:00.000-08:00

The clubhouse at the Rockaway Hunting Club in Cedarhurst, Long Island, NY

There is a quiet little neighborhood an hour outside of New York City on the south shore of Long Island where, in 1878, the Rockaway Hunting Club was founded. As one would imagine, the primary sports at the outset were fox hunting, steeplechase racing and polo. Rockaway was particularly well known for its strong polo team. They frequently won the national championships and the club boasted many of the best polo players in the country. But the playing fields and paddocks have long since given way to eighteen grass tennis courts and a short but deceptively challenging golf course. The old stable house still stands; it is used as storage space for equipment and machinery. The oldest sport that remains is skeet shooting.

Squash was an addition to the club in the 1920's as it became a popular sport in New York at that time. In continuing with the tradition of sporting excellence, a squash tournament was started where the very best U.S. based squash players descend on this enclave to compete for the coveted Gold Racquet trophy. The Gold Racquet goes to the winner of the singles squash tournament. The singles draw is a strictly invitational sixteen man event. The doubles players play for the Ray Chauncey Cup, although this name seems to have become synonymous with Gold Racquets over the years.

Hence, last weekend a handful of good squash players from around the United States gathered at America's oldest private country club to play in the 80th running of the annual Gold Racquet tournament. And this year was like every other year, in the sense that there was a lot of good squash played and good fun was had by all. It is the spirit of the tournament that makes it unique and special. The visiting squash players are made to feel very welcome by the club. The staff is extremely polite and friendly and everything is run with care and professionalism, with Dario leading by example. He is the head of staff at the club and has been doing this for fifty (!) years. Everyone who attends, including members, players and their guests, is put up at the club, or one of the annexes, and whoever cannot be accommodated is hosted by members at their houses in the surrounding neighborhood. The club really opens its doors for the weekend.

Now this does not always make for a smooth course of events. Given the scale of the tournament and the youthful exuberance on display, mistakes are occasionally made, on the part of players that is. Sometimes it is as simple as forgetting which house you belong to. Other times you forget the key and cannot get in. Or you don't remember the room you are sleeping in and walk in on unsuspecting strangers (not cool). Worst case you get locked inside your room and end up climbing out the window and risking life and limb as you clamber across the roof in search of an open re entry point. I am not saying that all of these things happened this weekend; I am just saying that they probably happen every time the tournament is held. These off court antics do not detract from the tournament at all. In fact, they make it special and give everyone plenty to talk about.

So the black tie party on the Saturday night is always a good time. It is religiously followed by drinking games in the bar and then paddle tennis in the freezing cold. Only the toughest survive this physical onslaught. It helps if you don’t have to play the next day, then you can drink enough to be numb to the cold and stay up until the early morning hours if you wish, as one of the tournament chairs selflessly demonstrated by example this year. As I said, you are made to feel very welcome.

From the outset in the 1920's the competition on court was tough. The first tournaments featured the likes of the reigning U.S. squash champion, the best Canadian squash player at the time, the captain of the Harvard University squash team, and the reigning R&T club champ, to mention a few. Not much has changed in this regard over the years. Just to get invited you need to be a good squash player. The singles draw is extremely competitive and has been won by many of the top squash players in US history. Last year Chris Gordon won the event. He is on the US team and is in the top one hundred players in the world. Other recent winners include Julian Illingworth, Lee Rosen, Michael Ferreira and Reggie Schonborn.

This year the result was slightly different from the norm though. The singles draw was won by a gentleman not based in the U.S. A Pakistani professional squash player named Yasir Butt won the event by beating Chris Gordon in a close final match Sunday afternoon. Yasir is from Lahore and moved to the U.S. just one month ago after, controversially, being part of the Pakistani team that was, for some reason, banned from playing in local events by the Pakistani Squash Federation (more on this to follow on this website). Yasir is the new Gold Racquets champion at his first attempt. He has been playing on the PSA tour for some time and winning squash matches is his business. He is a quiet and reserved man, but a machine on court, not unlike many of his countrymen.

Ordinarily, professional squash players would not play in Gold Racquets as this is purely an amateur event and there is no prize money. The players are playing for bragging rights only. In fact, many of the professional squash players who do wish to attend opt to play in the doubles draw and have some fun on court, rather than competing in the singles. Most of those who attend are either playing or coaching professionals and this is time away from their jobs. Nevertheless, entry is not automatically guaranteed. The list of names in the doubles draw is full of gentlemen who had competed hard in the singles competition in prior years. They graduated to the doubles draw over time after numerous outings in the singles.

This year we were witness to a great doubles competition. We saw Julian Illingworth, US number one at singles, playing good consistent doubles. We saw Baset Chaudhry’s ferocious pace and Gustav Detter’s discipline. And we witnessed Carl Baglio’s incredible superman dives and gets.

Then there were the power players. Todd Ruth and John White played against each other on the right wall and had a little private hard hitting competition. It was too close to call. Nobody could believe Ruth’s ability to generate so much power, especially relative to White who previously held the world record for the hardest strike of the ball. Many theories were touted; I think Todd just has perfect timing. Baset Chaudhry is another who hits a very heavy ball. He struck one forehand kill-shot from near to the front wall that I think actually compressed the ball and stayed all the way forward, you know, the way a singles ball does when you absolutely crush it. I still cannot believe he did that. I did not think it was possible with a hardball but he proved it is. Chaudhry is going to be a force to be reckoned with on the doubles court in future.

This year’s ultimate glory though belonged to the Aussie duo of John White and Shane Coleman, despite having one or two beers each (every fifteen minutes) the night before. Coleman, popular Cynwyd Club head pro in Philly, has achieved some measure of success on the ISDA pro tour this season and has won the Gold Racquet doubles before. This was White’s first outing to Rockaway, somehow he skipped playing in the singles draw, no doubt owing to his record of success in the singles game (he was world number one). His power and reach were a huge factor in his success in the tournament. And he chose the right playing partner in Coleman. The fact that White hits winners from lying on the ground is helpful, too. I swear he practices this… it is the second time I have seen him play doubles and both times I have seen him hitting the ball whilst lying on the ground.

He is not the only one who spent time on the floor. Many players were diving around like nutjobs. Terence Li (who is not a nutjob at all, he went to Yale) gets ten out of ten for his perfectly executed horizontal flights above the earth. He dives forward, bounces off his chest, hits the ball somewhere in the process of being airborne and then pops up to continue playing like it never happened, often repeating this more than once in the same rally. His athleticism is remarkable. And he does it every year. I can tell you definitively that there were others out there this weekend who were nothing like Terence and dove awkwardly around the court in moments of pure desperation. They did not get up in a hurry and left numerous blood stains all over that beautiful Maplewood floor.

Anyway, the various opponents that Coleman and White vanquished along the way return home with their egos battered and their bodies bruised, but they can all be happy in the knowledge that they gave everything in their quest to attain the Gold Racquet. The full results from the weekend are at USSquash.com. For the finalists, four full games of squash in less than thirty hours is brutal on the body, never mind all the off court demands. It takes a fair amount of blood, sweat and cheers to get there, but in the end the whole experience could not be more enjoyable.

Thanks go to tournament co-chairs, Mark Hinckley and Peter MacGuire, for voluntarily running this event and continuing a long tradition of camaraderie and sporting excellence at the Rockaway Hunting Club.

Yasir Butt, Mark Hinckley and Chris Gordon

Moneyball

2011-10-31T15:25:00.000-07:00

St. Louis Cardinals celebration immediately after winning the World Series

Last Friday night, the St. Louis Cardinals won their eleventh World Series Finals after a nail-biting seven game finale to the season. I was in downtown St. Louis that night-Washington Ave was a sea of red and white. The celebration was ridiculous. It reminded me of the Boston Red Sox win in 2004 where they came back from three games down against the Yankees and ultimately ended up winning their first world championship after almost a century of baseball, ending the curse of the Bambino.

That year, when Boston got into the American League Championship Series, a cocky, like-able young man from Rhode Island who worked on the AIG Financial Products job with me (he did fit right in there) bet me a couple of hundred bucks that the Red Sox would win. I obviously took the sucker bet, but ended up losing. It pissed me off, but I learned my lesson.

His rationale for favoring Boston was uncanny and was something out of a textbook. He quoted statistics that I had never heard of and seemed to know in detail how each batter and pitcher would perform against each of the Yankees line up. He was not even concerned about the World Series finals. That was a done deal in his mind. The real test was the penultimate series against the Yankees.

This young man’s name was John Fitzgerald and I got the feeling he had some kind of family connections with the Red Sox management. I was always amazed at how certain he was of the outcome and how right he had been in the end, how he had remained firm in his convictions, even when the Red Sox were three games down and all seemed lost. Boston did win the American League and then won the World Series against the Cardinals without a problem, as he had predicted.

This year was different for the Cardinals. After the Cardinals win this weekend, their manager, Tony La Russa, announced his retirement and went out on top. What I did not know about La Russa is that he had already won with the Oakland A’s previously. The reason it is notable to me is owing to his successor at Oakland, Bill Beane.

A former player turned scout, Billy Beane eventually took over as general manager of the Oakland A’s. After not doing well initially, the team went on to have a string of unbelievably good results over the course of a decade. He has not won the World Series but he has won a lot more games than he was supposed to on paper, given the budget he has had available and the players he could afford. How Billy Beane achieved this is the subject of a book by Michael Lewis called Moneyball, and it has been made into a Hollywood movie starring Brad Pitt, which you can see in theatres today.

The whole premise of the story is based upon a theory first popularized by a Kansas baseball fan named Bill James. Over the past twenty five years James has written numerous books devoted to baseball history and statistics. His approach, which is called sabermetrics, analyzes and studies baseball stats in an attempt to determine why teams win and lose. The SABR acronym comes from the Society for American Baseball Research. A typical Bill James written piece posed a simple question, for example "which pitchers and catchers allow runners to steal the most bases?" Then he presented his analyses and solutions in a thought-provoking, funny way.

Billy Beane started as a player. He had a phenomenal record as a young man and got recruited by the Mets right out of high school. Unfortunately, he never achieved his full potential as a pro baseball player and decided to quit in his late twenties and move into a management role. Given his failures as a player himself, Billy Beane turned to the theories written by James (and even tried to recruit him to the Oakland management team). Beane ended up recruiting Paul DePodesta, a young Harvard economics grad, to do the required analysis work and figure out what really wins baseball games.

Together Beane and DePodesta figured out that the most important determinant of success in the contribution of a hitter to the performance of a baseball team is his on-base percentage. Beane made it clear to his scouts that he did not care what the player looked like, or whether the player was hitting the ball or getting walked. He just cared how often the player got to first base. At draft time, Beane used this on-base statistic to select young players that other teams had overlooked owing to their apparently inferior abilities. Most teams picked young men that were strong and fast and ‘looked like ball players.’

But all Beane cared about was results, not physical appearance. Beane applied his formula religiously despite pressure from his entire team and found a way to draft exactly the players he wanted. It looked like he had assembled a team of misfits, but the overall results were phenomenal. The Oakland A's consistently finished at the top of the American League leader-board numerous times since Beane took over, and they still have the longest unbeaten streak in American League history of twenty consecutive wins. All of this despite their paltry budget, in relation to the bigger teams in the league. Their budget at the time was just over $30m while the big teams were spending well over $100m.

Since their 2006 American League Championship Series appearance, however, the A’s have not fared quite as well. The most plausible explanation for his recent lack of success is that other general managers have begun following Beane’s lead and are now using the same statistical approach which he does, but with bigger budgets to spend on players. It appears everyone is getting smarter. And this analytical approach to the game has now transcended baseball. Apparently Billy Beane is even helping Manchester United football team in their player selection these days.

This makes me wonder if this type of statistical approach could be applied to squash too. For example, if we applied the theory to our sport, perhaps one would need to answer questions like “who has the best shots?” and “who is the fittest?” Or perhaps something a little more complicated like, “what players make the most unforced errors?” or “who calls the most lets that are deemed no lets by the ref?" Irrespective of what the true winning formula is for squash we don't have the data required to figure it out.

Some have tried to capture the info we need. At the Bermuda World Open a few years back, each point was tracked. It was found that more than half of the rallies in the tournament required a referee’s decision. And of those about three quarters ended up in lets! A frightful result really. And certainly not helpful in deciding the outcome of a match. Or perhaps it is more helpful than we realize. I think that recording the result of every shot hit would give far more useful information than just the result of every rally. But who has the resources to do this?

Either way, drawing a point (and playing a let) may be acceptable to the rest of the world, but it certainly won’t fly with the American audience. U.S. viewers want to see a result on every play. Which makes me think, perhaps the Pro Squash Tour is going the right way with this.

If I were able to change one thing about our sport it would be to remove the lack of detailed historical information on matches played. One needs reliable data to make informed decisions. Perhaps this is what distinguishes the Trinity College squash team from others. The Trinity Men's team has the longest winning streak in all of collegiate sports history. They have won 244 consecutive matches and have remained unbeaten for thirteen years. Given this record of success it is clear that the Trinity College coach, Paul Assaiante, knows exactly what makes a good college squash player. And he goes out there and recruits high school players from around the world based on that data.

This year he has some competition though. Mike Way is the new head coach at Harvard University. He formerly coached Jonathan Power, Canadian world number one. Way has not only been actively recruiting players, but coaches, too. Most notably, Way has convinced one of the former Trinity assistant coaches, Reg Schönborn, to switch to Harvard. Reggie previously played at Trinity under Paul Assaiante and stayed on after college as assistant coach. He has been there for many years and has learned the ins and outs of developing a winning team.

So maybe Mike Way has been using some kind of statistical formula to recruit this year? They say Paul Assaiante has the model in his head though, so it is hard to tell how much knowledge Reggie would have realistically brought over. I am sure Way has figured something out himself. It sounds like there was a fair amount of healthy competition in the recruiting process.

College squash aside, is it not time that someone started tracking squash data at an accurate level and came up with the winning formula? I am sure the pros do it to some degree in order to prepare tailored game plans for each opponent (if they don't they should). Best we do it now before squash becomes wildly popular and the Pro Squash Tour changes format and becomes a big money team competition played between rival cities, like the Premier Squash League in England. I mean, without the data, how will we know who to select for our sides in the draft?

Anyway, I was interested to know how these theories may be applied to squash. So I asked my friend who got laid off from his Wall Street job and was kind of bored to take what little squash data was available out there and to analyze it. He ran it all through his Monte Carlo simulator and did not come up with the winning formula unfortunately; but he did arrive at the following predictions for the upcoming squash season. Some of them may excite you. Some of them may be of very little interest to you. And others may disappoint you. Whatever they do, this is what his model results showed:

1) Nicolas Mueller (current PSA #30) of Switzerland will be a big upward mover in the PSA world rankings over the 2011/12 season.
2) Egyptian professional Raneem El Weleily (current WISPA #7) will have beaten many players ahead of her in the WISPA world rankings over this season.
3) Ben Gould and Damien Mudge will remain at number one on the ISDA doubles tour for the entire season.
4) The Trinity Men’s team will lose at least one CSA college match this season.
5) Harvard University will be the best Women’s CSA team.
6) The Harvard University Men will capture the Ivy League title.
7) Yale Club will play Harvard Club in the finals of the NYC Women’s A (5.0) league.
8) NYAC will beat either CitySquash or CityView in the finals of the NYC Men’s A (5.5) league.
9) University Club of NY will win another Doubles League title.
10) Before the end of the season either Thierry Lincou or David Palmer will accept the $100,000 offer from the Pro Squash Tour to retire from the PSA and play exclusively in the U.S.

If, by the end of April next year, the predicted results above do not prove to be accurate, nobody can blame my mathematically-minded squash-obsessed friend, for two good reasons. Firstly, because he is anonymous. And secondly, when the computer gave the outcomes it also said: “Error message: lack of sufficient data for statistically meaningful results.”

Come to think of it, I am pretty sure I saw that line at AIG Financial Products too.

The front cover of the best seller entitled "Moneyball"

Q&A with Amr Shabana

2011-09-27T21:03:00.000-07:00

Egyptian squash legend, Amr Shabana, holds aloft the US Open trophy in 2009

This week I had the privilege of sitting down with Egyptian squash legend, Amr Shabana. I have never met anyone with such a record of achievement in the game (look him up if you don't know the name, in which case where have you been(!)) and so I was a little nervous asking some of these questions as I was not exactly sure how Shabana would respond. I was very relieved that Amr is not only a genius on the squash court but he is also a total gentleman, a great conversationalist, and has a real love for squash that is conveyed in the passion with which he speaks about the game. Oh, and he knows more about the history of the international game than anyone I have ever met. Hands down.

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BE: Well done on your recent performance in the British Grand Prix in Manchester. You lost in the semis against current world number one, Nick Matthew, a pretty impressive performance given that this was your first big tournament in half a year. Were you satisfied with the result, why the long lay-off and how did it feel to be playing competitively again?

AS: I was satisfied with the result, having been out entirely from the tour for six months. To be able to reach the semis of The British Grand Prix and challenge the top players was encouraging. Going forward hopefully I can keep getting better and stay healthy.

The long lay off was a result of a decision made by me to make a move to NYC. I always had that in mind - to move abroad and experience life in a new city in a country other than Egypt.

It felt good to be playing competitively again and felt good that even after such a long lay off to not be far off par with the very best in the game currently.

BE: It is amazing that so many of the world’s top professional squash players are based in New York City these days. The first to make the move was Wael El Hindi a year ago. And since January this year Alister Walker has been based here too. It would be truly incredible if you, as a four-time world champion and long time world number one, would do the same. We understand that you left during the turmoil in Egypt, but you could have gone to Canada where you have citizenship, so why the move to New York?

AS: I have always had a thing with NYC. I have been coming here over the past seventeen years at least three times a year. On two of these occasions it was to win the Tournament of Champions, in 2006 and 2007.

The city is a melting pot of cultures, and having a family, I always felt NYC was a great place to be. Don’t get me wrong, Toronto is an awesome place too, and is still an option for me.

As an athlete who spent most his life on the road, I grew up travelling all around the world, and I experienced and admired most of the countries I travelled to. So I have a lot of friends in both cities. NYC, however, I consider to be the squash hub on the American continent and I feel I could have a lot to offer here.

BE: We understand that you actually have the freedom to live in the US under a newly received visa? Congratulations. Given that you are a PSA touring pro how much time will you actually be in NYC and where will you train out of when you are here?

AS: Yeah, coming here in February with my wife and two daughters was to process my residency visa, which we are thankful to have now received, as we are now able to live and work here in an unrestricted capacity.

Currently, due to the congestion of the PSA tournament schedule this year, after processing my papers and now being able to be back fully on tour, my wife and I made a conscious decision to set ourselves up in New York going forward. We hope to make a smooth transition from Egypt to over here, and having two young girls we really need to. So, for now our time will be split between the two cities of Cairo and New York. I will be playing on the world tour initially anyway, but hopefully we will make the transition to New York as a family sooner rather than later.

There are a few clubs I train at in the city, I have made many good friends over the years that I have been coming to New York, so I don’t have a problem at all in that area.

BE: We hear that you are coaching these days as well as playing. Khaled Sobhy has asked you to get on court with his daughters, American juniors Amanda Sobhy and Sabrina Sobhy. How is this coaching going? Do you enjoy it and do you see potential in the American players on the world stage in future?

AS: I did coach a little bit this year given that I was inactive on tour. I got on court with a few promising squash players in NYC – I had training sessions with Julianne Chu and Jackie Chu for example. I also enjoyed being able to help Amanda and Sabrina; they are very nice girls and talented athletes, I didn’t spend an awful lot of time with them, but that time was well spent. I see potential in the American squash player on the world stage in the future, that is, if the stage is set is in the right direction… but that is not an easy thing to do.

BE: There is talk that you are principal in a brand new massive state of the art club currently being built in Cairo that will primarily serve in the development of top-level squash players. Can you confirm this and tell us about what the club will have an offer and how it will benefit Egyptian squash?

AS: A couple of years ago a friend of mine approached me with a vision he had. So, we started talking and soon found out that we were on the same wavelength, and the result is a brand called Blackball, which we are now very close to making a reality.

We are due to launch the company’s fist project next July - a new sports club in Egypt which will house nineteen squash courts and six tennis courts, along with various other sports. It’s a huge undertaking which we aim to duplicate once it is developed in order to make it possible for the kids back home to have venues in Egypt which will serve them fully and help them achieve anything they desire through sports.

BE: What is the climate like in Egypt right now, given all the political turmoil, and how does it affect you and your wife and two little girls. Are you all safe? We hope so.

AS: Any time that a country has a full-on revolution the good, the bad and the ugly will come out. Thankfully Egypt is a country full of patriots and great minds, and I am honestly confident when I say that, with hard work, Egypt could be great again, and perhaps even surpass the time of the ancient pharaohs.

BE: We understand you are a student of the game of squash and know the history of the game better than almost anyone alive. Who is your favorite squash player of all time?

AS: I am a squash student to the bone, having grown up in a family that played competitively in the highest levels. Rubbing shoulders with squash’s greatest players since the age of three was a privilege. I have so many great childhood memories.

It is not actually a fair question to ask who is the greatest, because there is no way one can give an answer to that question! I can name so many squash legends... I can tell you stories from the time of Abdel Fatah Pasha Amr (who was Egypt’s first great squash legend in the thirties) all the way up until today’s current squash champions. And each one has his talent, his story and his magic that is unique and different to any other…

BE: Over the last decade and a half you have had an incredibly successful playing career and have one of the best records of anyone who has ever played the game. You are also well known for having the fastest hands and the softest touch in the front of the court. At this stage in your career, do you have any particular squash goals left that you would still like to achieve?

AS: People would come up to me when I was a young junior and tell me that I could be World Champion and World Number One if I worked hard enough. I would thank them for their opinion and promise them that I would do my best.

And now I have somehow managed to win the World Open four times and held onto the Number One Ranking Spot for three years, and still continue to compete at thirty two years old after being on tour for seventeen consecutive years.

Having been given that opportunity to be where I am now, and what I have been able to achieve is a huge blessing given to me by God, and I am fully aware of that fact and it’s responsibilities. I pray that I didn’t let anyone down who believed in me.

BE: Thank you very much Amr for your time and for these very open responses. I know many fans will certainly feel like they know you better. And best of luck in the US Open this coming week.

AS: Thank you.

Amr, in a pensive moment, just before a match on the glass court

The Power of One

2011-08-24T07:31:00.000-07:00

A picture of Maria from her youth

Maria stands next to her four brothers at the soccer coaching camp where her dad dropped them off and introduces herself to the coach with a boy’s name. The brothers don’t flinch as they know she can hang with them physically; they have been getting into brawls with the neighborhood kids for years. Maria’s hair is cut short and she is in pants and looks like a boy. She even has a scar through her right eyebrow that reminds her of all the fights she got into as a kid (she took a rock to the head for that one).

After years of playing soccer, she discovered squash for the first time at the age of twelve. She immediately loved the sport and took sanctuary in it. A world apart from all the fights she got into as a child. She would fill a water bottle, lock herself inside a court and hit the ball against the wall, alone, for up to ten hours a day. In this way she is not unlike many great squash players who also took refuge in the sport.

The difference, however, is that Maria Toorpakai Wazir is a young woman in Pakistan. And growing up in the mountainous Pashtun tribal belt region of Pakistan there are very strict interpretations of Islam. The area she is from is an extremely dangerous place to live and has been a haven for the Taliban over the past decade. They have many rules and limitations, on women in particular. A young girl cannot participate in sports and she certainly was not meant to ever wear short pants.

So when Maria got older and eventually gave up the masquerade, everyone knew she was flaunting the rules. She did not care and continued playing the sport she loved. Others in the neighborhood would often holler at her as she walked to the squash complex where she trained every day. But she braved the verbal onslaughts and kept working hard and became really good at the game.

Maria’s family belongs to the Ahmadzai Wazir tribe. A Pakistani friend of mine, Zubair Khan, said the following about the Wazir tribe. "They are known for their resilience and determination. It’s a prerequisite just to survive in those mountains. I believe the same applies to squash. You need resilience and determination to survive a hard match.” You can learn more about the Wazir tribe here About the Wazir tribe in Pakistan

No surprise then that Pakistan has produced some of the best squash players that have ever lived. Prior world champions Hashim Khan, Jahangir Khan and Jansher Khan are all Pakistani and are also from that area I believe. The depth of the game is evidenced by the Pakistani team’s performances in prior World Champs. They have won it four times and as recently as two years ago they finished fifth overall in the World Men’s Team Champs. However, at this year’s World Champs currently being played in Germany, the team was seeded twelfth and did not even get through the pool games.

There have been some criticisms of the Pakistan Squash Federation surrounding the team selections they made for this event. Former top Pakistani players are concerned that the best team was not picked. But things are not so good for squash right now in general in their country. Their juniors recently had to pull out of an international event last minute owing to not having the visas they required to travel. Many fingers were pointed but the local federation seemed to bear the brunt of the blame for this. It appeared that is was their responsibility to ensure that everyone’s travel papers were in order. Irrespective of who is at fault, I am sure getting a travel visa as a Pakistani is harder now than it ever used to be. (As a South African, I can empathize, I’ve been denied visas more times than I care to remember.)

The usual hardships aside, it does not get any easier for someone in Pakistan. As we all well know, the country is in the middle of a disastrous political situation. Given its proximity to Afghanistan the country is also unfortunately caught up in the war against the Taliban. The recent discovery of Bin Laden's hiding place in Pakistan has certainly not helped things there either. I am sure squash (or any other sport) is not on the forefront of everyone’s mind when they get up in the morning. They have bigger things to focus on I suspect. Especially for those who live in the mountainous region bordering Afghanistan. Being a woman in this area is even harder. They are not afforded the same rights as the men. Just read this article for an idea of how hard it can be: A women's life in Pakistan

Irrespective of all these risks and the hardships, Maria overcame her surroundings and became a good squash player. She was so talented and so dedicated in fact that she became the number one female squash player in the country, joined the professional tour and has been as high as number sixty seven in the WISPA world rankings. And she is now famous in Pakistan.

But that's when the death threats started.

It was bad enough ignoring the rules as one person in isolation. Now she was breaking the rules as a famous sports person and everyone in the country would get to hear about it. Not long after she turned pro, her father received an anonymous letter from the Taliban threatening that if Maria did not stop playing, he would suffer dire consequences. Their family was in real danger.

Maria did not want to put her family and herself at risk any longer. She needed to leave the area. So she sent letters to everyone she could in the hopes of relocating to another country. Jonathan Power in Canada responded to her call. She recently moved to Toronto and is being trained by Jonathan at the National Training Center. Power says he sees something special in her and believes that soon she could be world number one. That is quite a bold statement from a former world champ himself.

Well, Maria definitely has the DNA for it. And she has more than proven her commitment and love for the game.

My friend Zubair went on to say: “I couldn’t see a more fitting coach than Jonathan Power. (Together they are) an explosive and exciting team... I would be surprised if she doesn’t make world number one, especially knowing how dangerous it would have been for her and her family to come this far.” Zubair would know. He is from there, too.

One can only hope that Maria Toorpakai Wazir makes it to world number one. But even if she does not make it, she has already achieved so much in the face of extreme adversity. No doubt she will inspire many other women in Pakistan and worldwide even to overcome whatever hardships are facing them and make changes for the better in their lives.

You can watch a video of Maria’s story here: Squash prodigy flees the Taliban

Jonathan Power and Maria Toorpakai Wazir at the National Training Center in Toronto

Q&A with Hisham Ashour

2011-07-10T15:21:00.000-07:00

Hisham Ashour, professional squash player

For those who don't know, Egyptian professional squash player, Hisham Ashour, is the older brother of Ramy Ashour, a world number one (currently he is at two). Ramy is one of the most gifted of all the squash players on the PSA circuit right now, and he is not the only one in the family. Hisham is also an extremely talented squash player, but he has not achieved the same success in recent years as his younger brother. Occasionally, Hisham has been accused of being an underachiever, given his incredible abilities. But he has been putting in hard work this past season and has shot up in the world rankings to PSA number 13 - and he may still go higher. He is most famous for the Mazuki shot (check it out here: Mazuki video). He is also very well liked by many of the other top professional squash players. One gets the sense that he is like a big brother to many of them, not just Ramy, leading by example on court and through his enthusiasm and love of the game. A little while ago in New York I got the rare opportunity to talk with him -

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Q: Given your meteoric rise to number 13 in the PSA world rankings over the last six months (congratulations!), to what do you attribute this?

A: I was stuck between number twenty-three and number twenty-six in the PSA world rankings for almost three years. I knew I was always a big threat to the top twenty guys, but still was not doing enough about it. However, I do get a good win every now and then. Last September in Chicago though, when I was at number twenty-nine in the world, I lost in the first round of the U.S. Open and was a bit down immediately afterward. But I bounced back quickly and was back at the courts to train that afternoon. Since then, I started doing my 'magic fitness' with the help of Hossam Shadad, my fitness coach. As a result, over the course of five months I moved up the PSA rankings to world number thirteen in April. But I think I am still capable of moving up about seven more spots or so in the very near future.

Q: Do you teach your signature shot, the Mizuki, to everyone, or only a few lucky people? When and why did you first develop that shot?

A: The Mizuki shot is a crazy unique shot. I invented it like three years ago when Lauren from SquashTV came to me and said "Hisham, do something crazy for the camera." At the time I was doing it, but never thought I would use it seriously in a professional match. It is a mix of a volley backhand then forehand drop to the two front corners. I can drive the ball or cross-court it too from that position. I show people how to do it, but I normally say "don't try this at home" (laughs) because it is a really risky shot, especially in real matches and tight points. To me it is basically a winning shot now though, I think, after two years of working on it.

Q: We hear that you are coaching these days as well as playing. How is the coaching going?

A: I love coaching squash; it is definitely in my blood. And I consider myself one of the best squash coaches on the planet, maybe Mars, too (smiles). I do a lot of adult and junior coaching, especially in the U.S., New York in particular, whenever I have the time. Unfortunately, I don’t have time to coach much during the season, but recently I have been so proud of the American juniors I coach because everyone is growing up and getting good and being serious about their squash now. And everyone is giving it one thousand percent. In these circumstances, coaching is a real pleasure for me.

Q: Why are you currently in New York and how much time do you regularly spend here?

A: Well, I love New York City and I’m always here doing something e.g. camps, clinics, or exhibitions. The people here are amazing. Squash players and fans make it superb. I just flew in from Hong Kong after a great exhibition tournament with two of the world’s greatest squash players, Thierry Lincou and Jonathan Power. And then I am here for two camps - one at New York Sports Club and one helping Kumail Mehmoud in Stamford. Kumail is a great coach and a hard worker; in that way, he is just like my brother. Then I’ll head back home to train for the Malaysian Open as it was a long off-season for me since April. I did exhibitions in the Cayman Islands, then something small in Lebanon then another adult camp in Greece with Petros Zamlukas.

Q: There is talk that you and your brother, Ramy Ashour, are building a new club in Cairo to serve primarily the interests of juniors?

A: We are looking at building our own squash club very soon but for now we are just looking for a couple of good courts to start with in Cairo . . . maybe something big in New York City soon, you never know.

Q: How much of what Ramy does did he learn from you, given that he is your younger brother? How would you feel about playing him in a professional match?

A: Ashour is a legend of the game with the way he plays and with his ability to kill the ball from weird angles. I am proud to have taught him a lot of what he knows now. And he will tell you that, too (smiles). And about me and him, when we play it is very close, but he is a world champion. I’ll still leave him a few points (winks).

Q: What is the climate like in Egypt right now, given all the political turmoil, does it affect you and your family? Are you all safe?

A: Yes, thank God we are all safe after the revolution. When something happens here it happens in a very small area so it does not affect everyone to be honest. I am so proud of all of the Egyptian people. What we did was a miracle.

Q: Lastly, what do you plan on doing over the off-season and which is the first tournament in the United States where fans can come to see you play?

A: In my off-season lately it is all 'squash vacations’ as previously mentioned—the Cayman Islands, Greece, Lebanon, New York City, etc. I can’t go totally off, because our first big tournament is the U.S. Open at the end of September. It is in Philly for the first time and I am looking very forward to it. I hope that everyone will come and watch all of these top-notch monsters competing.

Q: Thanks for your answers and good luck with everything in future.

A: Thank you very much for allowing me this opportunity. May God bless us all.

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If you enjoyed reading this there is a video interview of Hisham Ashour where he answers many more personal questions at Video Q&A session. If you want to see even more footage of Hisham check out a great video made during a photo shoot at Rob White's blog. At the end of the video Hisham gives some coaching advice that is a rare insight into the way he thinks about the game and is pure genius. If you have not gotten the opportunity to see him play you should definitely try to make one of his matches. I think you'll be amazed and entertained.

Hisham in a more relaxed moment
[photos courtesy http://www.robwhitephotography.com/]

Suddenly a Sailor

2011-06-07T09:11:00.000-07:00

James and I putting out the spinnaker the first day (before the storm)

If you have been reading this blog for a while, you may remember that around the time the Printing House Squash Club was getting broken down last year, a squash friend of mine from the club sold his apartment, pulled his kids out of school, bought a 55 foot Catamaran and sailed off into the sunset, you know, in the hopes of spending the winter in the Caribbean and then the summer loping around the Mediterranean. You can read that article here: From Bermuda With Love.

In order to successfully achieve his lifelong dream, he would need to do one not so insignificant thing: he would need to sail across the North Atlantic as captain of his own vessel, with the most precious cargo of all onboard—his wife and two young children (ages seven and ten). And to get across the Atlantic safely, he would certainly need crew other than his wife, especially if there were storms en route. This would be James's first Atlantic crossing. To try it without crew would have been crazy.

When James sent out the invite, it went to a group of his squash friends in New York. An interesting proposal, I thought immediately, since he did not invite us to a squash tournament in Bermuda, or to just chill in St Martin or drink daiquiris on the beach in Dominica, or go island-hopping in Greece or Croatia (my mind wanders). He wanted us to sign up for the longest, hardest leg of the journey. A journey which would take a lot of time and would involve a fair amount of work, definitely a little risk, and, how shall I say this….a certain degree of hardship.

Well, the three of us (suckers) that signed up to go crew for James had no idea what we were in for. Nor did James, I suspect.

There is a weather window for sailing the almost 2,000 miles from Bermuda to the Portugese islands of the Azores. This window opens in May each year. This is the month during the year when one is least likely to encounter a storm. It is after the winter storms have ended and before the summer storms start. Of course, there are exceptions. Like this year, for instance, when a massive 1,000 mile wide low pressure system descended over Bermuda on May 7th (the day after we departed) and proceeded to wreak havoc on the east coast of the U.S. It also caused trouble for a few boats in the North Atlantic, too. Some of these boats were oil tankers, others were 100 foot sailing vessels that flew south and away from the storm at over 20 knots. And then there was us. A smallish, slow vessel caught slam dunk in the middle of a massive storm system that covered most of the North Atlantic Ocean.

Good thing the weather services we used did not pick it up in advance, I thought, else they would probably be the only two reliable weather services in the entire world....So now it was up to us to get through it. We were due east of Bermuda and the eye of the storm was directly behind us, so we needed to head on a 90 degree true course to make it out of the storm as fast as possible. Maintaining a constant heading is not an easy thing in rough seas and strong winds on a Catamaran with no keel to hold us on course, especially when the autopilot stops working. The quickest route out of a circle is taking a line parallel to the radius, the captain reminded us. And this was pretty much the course we wanted to take anyway. Fortunately it was made possible owing to the uncharacteristic south westerly and then southerly winds we found ourselves in, but which made sense given where we were in the storm. A low pressure moves counter clockwise in the northern hemisphere. Another saving grace is that the eye of the storm was heading slowly north, i.e. away from us.

The next day the strongest winds we experienced were forty five knots and the biggest seas around twenty feet. In a bigger boat this would not have been a real problem. But I am pretty sure that a small Catamaran is not designed for this type of weather. We were flying down these huge waves, basically windsurfing them. I would watch these walls of water rise up behind James as he stood at the helm in the stern of the boat. Some of the waves were so vertical behind him that he could have reached back and touched them. I am glad he did not have the time to look behind him. He was focused on keeping the boat from rolling in the huge swells, which meant riding them for a bit, until we were moving as fast as they were and then turning and dumping the wind out of the sails and letting the big swell pass harmlessly beneath us. Easier said than done.

At one point our starboard hull was lifting and the port hull was digging in. The waves were crashing over the deck of the boat. One went right through the cockpit and it reminded me of the waves I played in as a kid. The lip of the wave flies by just overhead and you needed to keep your head down or risk getting knocked out. That wave would have washed anyone on the wheel overboard for sure, I thought. Good thing the autopilot was on (and was working) and there was nobody standing close to the stern of the boat. I was near the door to the salon and was protected from the wave. Until this point, I was still having a lot of fun actually, but that wave that went right over us made me realize the gravity of the situation we were in.

That night we encountered a little lightning, because, you know, the wind and waves were really not enough of a challenge. A dark and stormy night indeed….the lightning was terrifying. We were zigzagging our way through it for what seemed like forever. By the time it was morning we were relieved that we were mostly through it as the lightning seemed to have petered out. But the cloud cover was low and it was still very dark. It was hard to tell that dawn had broken. As I scanned the ocean somewhere near the end of my third hour of watch I noticed a low white cloud that seemed out of place and hanging suspended under the dark carpet of cloud above it. I watched it grow a tail that wagged and spun and grew bigger. As it neared the surface of the ocean, I watched as the sea rose up to meet it. I rubbed my eyes in disbelief. Next thing I know this water spout (tornado) expands and becomes wider and is spinning around violently. And it is coming straight at us. I was not happy.

With this large water spout bearing down on us and not sure which way to turn to avoid it, we called the captain to the rescue. Needless to say, with instructions in hand, we did a quick sharp turn and got the hell out of there as fast as possible. The water spout flew by on the port side and disappeared into the darkness as fast as it had arrived. I get chills when I envisage what would have happened to the boat if we were at the spot where the water spout formed. And who knows how many of those things went flying by us in the middle of the night. That would have been one heck of a rude wake up call.

After days of taking a beating, the boat was still afloat but many of the critical parts had suffered in the storm. The rudder, sails, lines, autopilot, cleats, toe-rails, hydrolic steering, water-maker, engines, bilges, black water system, gray water system, fresh water tanks, the whole damn boat seemingly had taken its turn in breaking down - or just breaking - in one way or another. Well, at least the propane tanks had not leaked and the hull was intact, I remember thinking. Just then a shout from below as someone discovered that the hull was, in fact, taking on water as every new wave hit us. I could not even bring myself to go below and look at the problem and was quite happy that the experts were on it. After an hour or so the leak was fixed and we could all breathe easy. That was a very long hour for me. I think I spent that time wondering why I had volunteered for this trip in the first place. The only redeeming thought was that I would not die in hospital, but on my 'own terms' in the middle of nowhere on the ocean....

What next? The only critical thing left to break was the mast... but that would have taken us literally rolling over, in which case we would have had bigger problems, like grabbing the life rafts and exiting the tiny escape hatches in an upside down hull (that I probably would not fit through anyway…). We rechecked the inventory just in case. We had three EPIRBS onboard, three medical kits, two life rafts and two sea anchors. Wow. It was almost like we were preparing for a massive disaster. I hoped that we had not sealed our collective fate.

Well, the mast did not break. And we made it through two of those big storm systems in the end and were pushed by the wind to a position two days west and directly downwind of Horta, our Azorean destination. So we dropped the sails and motored the rest of the way in using the engines - and the fuel in the tanks. Thank goodness we had procured extra 'emergency' fuel before leaving. It cost us half a day but was well worth it in the end. Good call by the first mate in retrospect. Our last drop of emergency fuel ran out as we arrived in the harbor. We were jumping to get off the boat but it took about an hour to shut off the diesel engine that was getting no fuel, go figure.

When we finally disembarked we kissed the ground and danced like mad men.

In retrospect, as a complete amateur, I was nowhere near prepared for the crossing. But none of us really were, even the old ‘sea dogs’. The boat certainly was not. But, as our fearless captain pointed out, one never really is ready for this sort of thing. And he went on to point out that the effort required to maintain a boat in working condition is not a destination either, it is a journey. He was so right. In the end you are at the mercy of Mother Nature anyway and no amount of preparedness will help you. You are so small and helpless in a yacht in the middle of the ocean that sometimes even your best attempts to control the situation are just totally futile.

Looking back, the trip was just as emotionally and mentally draining for all of us, as it was physically tiring. It continually required strength and patience and determination of all of the crew. It also often required making decisions under pressure and following through and being disciplined in your actions. From the captain it demanded leadership, intelligence and confidence. And we all had to trust him. And we had to trust the boat. And we all had our moments - at some point every one of us succumbed to the pressures we were under. But we got through the hardship as a team.

I was surprised that we achieved this in the end, given the disparate crew we had on board. None of us were or ever had been professional sailors. There was the CEO (James, the captain), the movie director, the real estate developer, the book editor, the property manager, two crazy kids and myself. We had never sailed together before as a group, but most of us knew each other pretty well from squash; you can tell a lot about a person after you’ve spent some time with them on a squash court. So we knew that there were many leaders on this trip, but not so many followers. In the most stressful situations though, we each rose to the challenge, worked hard and took orders as best we could, and made the crossing without serious incident.

Mission accomplished, one could say. And not bad for a motley crew of squash players.

Our 'life raft', named "Ondine"

Double The Fun

2011-05-05T08:05:00.000-07:00

Damien Mudge getting out of the way of a speeding bullet

Last week I watched the finals of the last professional doubles tournament for the season, the Player’s Championship. The matches were played in Long Island and in New York City. On court for the finals were three Australians and one British squash player. What you may not know is that all the Aussies on court were from the same town, Adelaide. And two of them even went to the same school - Prince Alfred College.

This fact should not be that surprising given that outside of the U.S. squash is still a sport that is dominated by players that were schooled at traditional institutions with strong sports programs. As another example, did you know that all of the South Africans on the Trinity College team over recent years have come from the same town, Bloemfontein (literally translated to mean 'flower fountain')? In fact, most of them come from the very same school, Grey College, another all boys boarding school well known for the excellent young sportsmen it produces.

Back to the present - Damien Mudge is the head squash pro at the University Club in New York, while Ben Gould is the head pro at another old prestigious squash club in the city, Racquet & Tennis. Although these gents are basically rivals in terms of their squash careers, and certainly in prior pro doubles competition, this year these two Australian sportsmen went down to the billabong and smoked the peace pipe -- a figure of speech -- and played as a doubles team for the first time this season.

The result was impressive. Up until the Players’ Champs, this world number one duo of Mudge and Gould had not lost a competition in their first year of play. So the pressure was on them to maintain their perfect record and finish off a flawless first year playing together with a win in the last match. They did not take the challenge lightly. During this final encounter they played with extreme ferocity and with an aggression I had never seen on a squash court.

This was my first time watching four of the current best doubles players in the world play against each other, so it was quite an eye opener. The pace of play was incredible. It seemed that the game was a series of two contests between players on opposing walls. Particularly between Gould and Jenson, the former schoolmates at St Joseph’s in Australia, were trading cross-courts for much of the match. This was because every time Damien touched the ball he hit it with so much pace that it immediately created an opening for his team. It is hard to get a clean strike on a doubles ball generally, never-mind one moving at lightning speeds up and away from your racquet. The result is the ball just pops up on the front wall and the next player can simply step in slowly and crush the ball to one of the back corners or the into the sidewalls putting his opponents even more on the back foot. As this happens you can watch two players going forward and two players going backward. The players in front invariably win the rally.

And these guys are all extremely fit and agile too. Just look at the picture of Mudge above. This standing jump was done in the flash of an eye in order to get out of the path of a ball struck by Gould that I am pretty sure would be moving at well over 200mph! Most people could not even have got out of the way of the ball, but Damien had the presence of mind, exceptionally quick reflexes and athletic ability to not only get out of the way, but to do a vertical jump to clear the ball and thereby keep the rally going. He did this a few times during the match actually. Nobody else does this like he does.

In the end Mudge and Gould won the match with relative ease. They did not drop a game and won the last very quickly. Gould hit a series of winners in this third game to finish off the match that Mudge felt compelled to complement him on in the victory speech. Mudge said Gould plays better when he is relaxed. And it showed out there in that final game. Gould, too, was gracious and gave all the credit for the season to his playing partner. Should they continue playing together going forward they will certainly remain very hard to beat.

Partnering with Mudge was a good idea in retrospect, as this is the first undefeated season for Gould. Not so, however, for Damien, as he previously played on the tour with Gary Waite, retired Canadian pro, and had three perfect seasons as a team. Can you imagine how tough this is to achieve? Don’t let lack of money or spectatorship belie you into thinking this is not a competitive tour; the players against whom they are competing are professionals in the truest sense. These guys train hard on a daily basis to maintain their positions. So they cannot afford to slip for a second. On the doubles pro tour are many current PST professionals, former U.S. college players (many from Trinity College) and many ex-PSA stars that live in the States, even including former world champion singles players.

The professional ISDA tour is not the only format for competitive doubles play. There is an amateur doubles league between clubs in Boston and in Philly and recently in New York. The NY league started with one division and has grown to four divisions played by over one hundred individuals and thirty teams from various clubs across the tri-state area. The regular weekly matches that have been played for months culminated in the finals this week. The University Club of New York won the overall B division trophy and were runners up to Apawamis in the A's. On the Apo team that won the A's was the current U.S. Women's singles number one, and former WISPA world number one, Natalie Grainger. Interestingly enough, Natalie’s playing partner, Tommy Clayton, was a University Club member himself, but chose to play for Apo in the finals as he is a member of both clubs.

Loyalties aside, Grainger and Clayton both played exceptionally tight and disciplined squash and well deserved the victory. The first of many similar amateur doubles titles to follow for Grainger I am sure. And Clayton is no stranger to the podium either. He was a National over forty doubles title-holder, as well as, a former University Club singles and doubles squash champion.

You can follow the Pro Doubles tour at the link on the right of this site called ‘Follow the U.S. Doubles Tour (ISDA)’. You can learn more about the amateur tour and perhaps sign up for the next one at the New York squash website under the Doubles link. You never know, you may just like the game.

As a friend of mine keeps reminding me, winning at doubles squash is really satisfying, because you get to disappoint two people instead of just one.

Double the disappoint. But also double the fun.

NY Squash Interclub League Champions, Natalie Grainger and Tommy Clayton

Strong as Oak

2011-04-04T10:32:00.000-07:00

Indian Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar in action with a wooden cricket bat

On Saturday, India won the Cricket World Cup in front of their home crowd in Mumbai and sent over one billion people into a celebration that, given the duration of most Indian celebrations, I am pretty sure has not actually ended yet. Cricket is immensely popular in India and the match was watched live by most of the one hundred thirty eight million Indian households that have TV's.

Cricket, like squash, is a game that originated in England and was made popular across the globe by British expatriates. It is the most popular summer sport (or close to it) in many parts of the world, including Britain itself, all of the Indian subcontinent, the Caribbean, the commonwealth countries in Southern Africa and the antipodean countries of New Zealand and Australia. Not surprisingly, squash is popular in all of these countries, as well, and is played by many cricketers to stay fit and to maintain quick hand-eye coordination during the winter months.

Cricket is played with a wooden bat, not unlike the size and weight of a baseball bat, but with a flat surface. Squash used to be played with wooden racquets. When I started playing squash in South Africa these were all that were available. But by the end of the Eighties, most squash players in South Africa were playing with graphite or boron racquets. These newer racquets were much lighter and stronger, whereas the old wooden racquets had a lot of whip (an understatement) and it was much harder to control the ball. In fact, relative to modern racquets, it would feel like you were playing squash with a thera-band or even spaghetti. Until you mis-timed the strike of the ball, then it was like you were holding onto a chainsaw—the vibrations were intense. If you hit the wall (or your opponent, for that matter) with the racquet, the full force would be transmitted through your arm and it would feel like it was going to snap your arm right off.

So today, in squash, the use of wooden implements is all but a thing of the past. But not for Cory Azriliant, head squash professional at the Health & Racquet Clubs of New York City. Cory has been coaching squash at HRC for a decade and has been collecting wooden racquets throughout that time in the hopes of someday using them in a tournament. Azriliant claims to own over five hundred wooden racquets, mainly purchased from his mysterious supplier in Toronto referred to simply as ‘O’. Buying outdated racquets is a curious hobby some may say, but recently it paid dividends. Not for Cory, but for fourteen hundred girls living in the Seva Mandir girls’ orphanage in Porto Novo, India.

A fellow HRC squash player and long time friend of Cory's, Tom Kurian, had known Azriliant’s intentions for a wooden racquet tournament. So Kurian assisted Azriliant in setting up the tournament and asked him to donate the proceeds to a cause close to Tom's heart, the Seva Mandir girls’ orphanage.

The orphanage was started in part by Mahatma Gandhi, the Indian civil leader. Most people would not know that Gandhi moved to South Africa in his mid-twenties in 1893 and lived there for two decades, where he was apparently a squash player himself. When back in India in the 1920’s, Gandhi met an impassioned Danish missionary, Anne Marie Peterson. After a series of correspondences, he inspired Peterson to start a school for impoverished girls in Porto Novo. Today, Seva Mandir houses and educates over fourteen hundred orphaned girls in preparation for their futures.

The reason this is significant is that Tom Kurian’s great-aunt, Miss Mary Chakko, also dedicated most of her life, until her passing in 1997, to Seva Mandir. Seva Mandir means 'Temple of Service'. Without the devotion and hard work of Miss Mary Chakko, Seva Mandir would not have survived, as many missions, schools and orphanages in India and around the world fail due to weak leadership—like Madonna’s Raising Malawi, for instance. Even though Seva Mandir gets some funding from the governments of India and Denmark, since Chakko’s passing it has not been receiving as much money as previously.

So Kurian and Azriliant set out to organize the squash fundraiser for the direct benefit of the orphanage. They had twenty eight participants in three divisions last weekend: Novice, Intermediate and Advanced. Injury during the tournament was one worry for Azriliant. Even though goggles were mandatory, playing squash with unfamiliar solid wooden racquets is definitely cause for alarm and someone could get hurt.

And Azriliant was right. At least two squash players got knocked by the heavy wooden racquets and hence had make-shift bandages wrapped around their heads to stop the bleeding. At one point "it looked like a scene from 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest'” said one of the competitors. But, despite the relative carnage, nobody was too seriously injured and everyone had tons of fun.

In the end, Kurian and Azriliant had not only raised over eight thousand dollars, but they had also convinced Citigroup to donate forty computers and thereby secured a brand new computer center for Seva Mandir girls’ orphanage. A fine effort by these gentlemen, for a very worthy cause.

The “Strong as Oak” tournament will be hopefully a regular event on the New York squash calendar going forward. Just remember to bring your own ice and bandages. Or just a cricket helmet if you have one.

Squash legend Hashim Khan holding a wooden squash racquet

Q&A with Alister Walker

2011-03-18T10:35:00.000-07:00

This is some of the best squash news I have ever had the chance to share:  A top British professional squash player, Alister Walker, moved his home base from England to New York two months ago. He is currently living in Harlem and is going to be training out of squash clubs all around New York. The best part, Ali Walker is in the prime of his career - he is only twenty eight years old and has been in the PSA top twenty for the last two years. As a point of comparison, his friend and training partner in England, Nick Matthew, reached the world number one spot for the first time last year at the tender age of thirty.  And Matthew is still there now, a year later, and is showing no signs of slowing down. Perhaps Ali will follow in Nick's footsteps??

So, I got the opprtunity to ask Mr. Walker a few questions which he answered incredibly well, so thought I would just pass on his words directly in a Question and Answer format. Enjoy!

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"BE: Why the move to New York?

AW: My move to NYC was prompted by a feeling of "staleness". I felt as though I was in need of a change in environment to improve energy. Within the performance section at England Squash there were many changes and I was not entirely happy with the way they were managed and the timing of those changes. My coach, David Pearson informed me he would be working closely with Chris Gordon and coming to the states quite frequently so things started to make sense for a move to the USA. More specifically NYC was the only city with enough players to continue to get the necessary sparring partners I need to continue to achieve my goals. On top of that what a great city with a powerful energy. There wasn't another option!

   Another good reason for the move to New York is one of my closest friends from the prestigious Wycliffe College is living not far from Harlem. Richard Wade is becoming a high achieving junior private coach mainly in Greenwich. We lived together in Leeds when we had both finished our schooling at Wycliffe. Good to have someone like that around.   I had an amazing conditioning trainer in England, the type that could not be replaced. Mark Campbell who still works with Nick Matthew and James Willstrop and I must admit it was hard to leave him but we are still in touch. Relationships like we had will go beyond just physical conditioning. I hope he will come to visit me in the Big Apple however I am working with Rob Marra who is based in Baltimore but comes up to NYC and I travel down at weekends now and I have enjoyed the sessions and look forward to them. And with smart training and a bit of luck hopefully staying injury free and feeling fit and strong.

BE: Understand you are living in Harlem; do you know about StreetSquash?

AW: I am living in Harlem for the time being. I have a cousin, Lesego, from Botswana that is my age living there. We actually grew up together and learned our squash at the same time and place. He works for the prominent businessman Russell Symonds now but was keen for me to come over and we are living in an apartment together in Harlem. It's great for us with the huge African influence. There is plenty of African restaurants and styled bars in Harlem not to mention you get considerably more for you money than any other part of Manhattan to my knowledge!

   I am aware of the Streetsquash program and I am very keen to be more involved. I met with Katie Siegel there and she showed the program and how it works. As of yet getting on my feet sorting out my residence, trying to train and get some work around that in order to make up for lost support from England Squash it has been a struggle to get over. It's on my radar to do my part for the kids and StreetSquash! I hit with a few of them at the Tournament of Champions and we had a good time.

BE: Given you are a PSA touring pro how much time will you actually be in NYC and where will you train?

AW: I am really happy being in NYC so I will be looking forward to getting back "home" when I have finished playing overseas. A feeling I did not have in 2010. I will be spending the vast majority of the time from January to August in New York I hope as that will be my off season and there are enough events in North America for me not to have to leave too far for too long. Of course I will need to get back to see my folks in Botswana for a couple of weeks once the traditional seasons ends. Apart from that I hope to be around plenty!

   New York Sports Club have kindly given me free membership to do much of my physical training in there. I will be hitting at the clubs that have courts, like at 86th Street and Lexington.

   Bradley Ball and I are getting on 2-3 times a week at the Union club and Bradley has been very helpful for my game. Julian Illingworth and I will hit at his base NYAC and I will travel up to Connecticut to train the Australian boys based around there. Wael El Hindi and myself will start to hit and I am extremely excited to hear Amr Shabana has moved over too and I will be on his case to hit several times a week!

BE: Do you think other squash pros will follow your lead and come to the U.S.?

AW: It's hard to know if players will follow my lead from Europe. To a large extent it depends on my success as to whether they see it viable for a young pro wanting to make the most of their best coming years. It has the tag of being the country to come to at the twilight of your career to cash in on your name. I hope this may be the start of a change to that tag. With the likes of Ryan Cuskelly, Amr Shabana and myself fully based in NYC it may seem more appealing. It's expensive place to live for a squash pro though!"

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Is it not awesome that a bunch of the world's top professional players have moved to New York? The first to make the move was actually another top Egyptian player, Wael El Hindi, a few years back. He has quite a following in the U.S. and can regularly be seen on the court at Cityview training some of the city's most promising youngsters.

And now we all get the privilege of seeing a few more professional players of his calibre (both on and off the court) in action here too. It's a great time to be a squash fan in New York.

Any Given Sunday

2011-03-01T13:30:00.000-08:00

Two weeks ago in Providence, Rhode Island, Paul Assaiante led the Trinity College squash team to their thirteenth consecutive unbeaten regular season of college squash. And this past Sunday, at Harvard’s Murr Center in Cambridge, MA, he led them to their thirteenth CSA National Team Championship victory. That's thirteen years of unbeaten squash in a row; lucky for some.

His team's record is really in the spotlight these days. Coach Paul recently wrote a book about a few of his coaching experiences with the Trinity squash team called 'Run to the Roar'. The book has received great reviews and has been marketed at various venues around the country. The buzz even prompted The New York Times to run an article in its magazine a week ago publicizing the team's remarkable achievements. In it, the Trinity College president, James Jones, was quoted as saying (probably in a very deep voice) that statistically the streak is not likely to continue for much longer.

I think Mr. Jones may be right. Trinity will not keep winning indefinitely. They will lose eventually because the other schools have caught up and are now fielding better players, both from the U.S. and from abroad. For the first time in many years Trinity no longer has the best player in the college game. The best CSA player this season is a young man at Princeton University named Todd Harrity. And Todd is American; he learned his squash at Episcopal Academy in Philadelphia.

In fact, Trinity almost lost their grip on the lead already. This past Sunday, Trinity held on to win the Nationals by a single match against Yale. At 5-4, this was the closest match of this season for Trinity. And they have had quite a few close calls in recent years (read Run to the Roar for another instance). I think in the next year or two they will almost certainly lose a match. Perhaps not the overall season, but surely one or two regular season games.

The reason I am confident this will happen is that squash is a ‘marginal’ game - a game of inches, if you will. You see, a squash player does not need to be significantly better than his opponent to exploit his relative weaknesses. A small difference in fitness or ability between two players will be exacerbated over the course of the game; and the player who is only slightly better relative to his opponent will most likely win the match.

It is this comparative advantage which has kept Trinity at the top of the leader-board for all these years. Squash, although frequently set up as a team encounter, is not played by a team of nine men against another team of nine men. It is played one on one. This marginal difference which Trinity has exploited for thirteen years in a row will also be the marginal difference that will see them lose a match someday soon. I suspect that from now on Trinity will need to fight even harder for every win they get.

Next year, with the taste of blood in the water, one can only imagine how college coaches will motivate their players in order to capture that marginal difference and secure the wins they all so desperately want. The motivational words made popular by another famous coach may seem appropriate.

"You know, when you get older, you find out that life's this game of inches, but so is squash. Because in either game - life or squash - the margin for error is so small. I mean, one half a step too late or too early and you don't quite make it. One half second too slow, too fast and you don't quite reach the ball. The inches we need are everywhere around us. They're in every shot of the game, every minute, every second. On this team we fight for that inch."

Next year all the college coaches will be motivating their teams to have the confidence and self belief they will need to be victorious in the toughest of battles. But then again, this is at least half of any coaching job.

"The inches we need are in every point of the game, every minute, every second. On this team, we kill ourselves for that inch. Cause we know when we add up all those inches that's going to make the difference between winning and losing....That's squash guys. That's all it is. Now, whattaya gonna do?"

Thor

2011-02-08T09:33:00.000-08:00

England's Nick Matthew maintained his position as world number one in the February Dunlop PSA Men's World Squash Rankings, recently published by the Professional Squash Association. Matthew is just ahead of second-placed Ramy Ashour, the Egyptian player against whom he lost in the finals of the JP Morgan Tournament of Champions in New York two weeks ago.

After the tournament Matthew got on a flight to Stockholm for the next stop on the international squash tour. The Case Swedish Open was being played in Linköping and $60,000 in prize money was on offer. I had to look it up on a map. Linköping is a city south west of Stockholm on the E4 highway, one town after Norrköping but before Nölby, right by Roxen. That should clear it up for you(!)

Even though this is the biggest squash tournament in Scandinavia, many of the top PSA players were not there for this event. I am sure after all the snow and ice and freezing cold temperatures in New York the professional squash players were just lining up to go to Sweden. Ya! No kidding that many of the top names were not playing in this tournament. Our fearless world number one, Nick Matthew, was there though and he won the tournament this weekend for the third year in a row.

Also playing in the event was Rasmus Hult, a squash professional based in Stockholm. He is a good player with Viking strength but did not progress past the first round, much to the dismay of the local fans. He was still likely recovering from the prior weekend when he played in finals of the Swedish Nationals in Stockholm, open only to Swedish citizens. Rasmus was playing in front of his home crowd in Stockholm and expected to win the event again, as he has previously. He does not travel much for PSA events but does like to rise to the occasion and has previously beaten top 100 players in the world when representing Sweden. He was the reigning national champion, is very patriotic and had the support of the majority of the fans at the event. Basically, he owns this tournament.

Unfortunately for him, a young Swedish man named Gustav Detter, who recently graduated from Trinity College in the U.S. was in town on 'vacation' and thought he would stop by the courts. Not good news for Rasmus, the local hero. Gustav Detter won 3-1 in the finals and thereby claimed his first National crown, at his first attempt.

Detter has always been unavailable in February (he has been working hard and prior to that playing in college matches) so had never played in the Swedish Nationals. Perhaps everyone back home had kind of forgotten about him. Well, not anymore. He is now the Swedish National Champion. Not a bad feat for an amateur squash player based in New York. This is testament to the high standard of squash in U.S. colleges. If you have read the book 'Run to the Roar' you will know the name Gustav Detter. You will also know that Princeton is the venue of one of the greatest college matches in recent memory. It is the site where Gustav immortalized himself in Trinity College folklore (read the book).

Speaking of Trinity, this collegiate team looks all set to keep their unbeaten streak alive, in fact. They have not lost all season and have only two matches left. But these will be hard games against their arch rivals. They play against Harvard tonight and then Princeton this weekend in the last match of the season. If you have nothing better to do (and enjoy watching good squash) this will be a great match to attend. It is in Princeton, New Jersey, on Sunday. Warning though, there may be a bit of a crowd at the event. And no doubt there may be more than just a little cheering and celebrating when Trinity wins their 13^th consecutive unbeaten season and keeps alive the longest winning streak in the history of collegiate sports in the U.S.

This will not be an event for the faint-hearted. You may even see Thor in the crowd.

Showdown at the GC Corral

2011-01-27T14:15:00.001-08:00

The JP Morgan Tournament of Champions being played this week at Grand Central Station has been awesome. Last night, at the end of the evening’s play, there was a standing ovation from the crowd that seemed to go on forever. Everyone realized they had just witnessed something special and were truly appreciative of the players’ efforts.

The finals are tonight and we will see PSA world number one, Englishman Nick Matthew, play the PSA world number two, Egyptian Ramy Ashour, for the tournament title. The two have played each other nine times previously, Ashour having won five to Matthew’s four (one by injury default). These are the two best squash players in the world playing each other in the first large squash ‘major’ of the year. They are also both challenging for the world number one spot, which they have traded with each other a few times over the last year. Tonight has the potential to be one of the best squash matches in recent memory.

To recap - the semi-final last night between Matthew and ex-world number one, Amr Shabana, was probably the best squash match I have ever witnessed. Matthew has faced Shabana five times in his career and has only lost once. Also, considering that Matthew is in better physical shape right now than he has ever been, would have swung the odds in his favor. Alistair Walker, English compatriot and recent training partner, acknowledged after their match that Matthew was looking very sharp and taking the ball incredibly early. Even more so than normal. So the smart money was on Matthew last night.

But what ensued was anything but short and one-sided. Matthew won the first two games and it looked like he was heading for a 3-0 result. But Shabana turned up the heat in the third. He is the original Egyptian shot maker and is the first of many recent world number ones from that country. He has clinically tight drops and incredibly good short shots. These were in full display in yesterday's game. He clawed his way back into the match and won the third and then the fourth game, too. The fourth was incredibly close with Shabana saving match points to get into a position to win. The first match point he defended was a return off the serve. A back-hand volley shot which buried the ball in the cross-court nick. He turned to the crowd with an extended fist and screamed. Yeah! The heat was on. He defended another match point and then when he got the chance to finish it he did, in emphatic style. With another nick! The match went to five and Matthew won. It was a nail-biter all the way and in the end was won by only two points by Matthew, who hit a few uncharacteristic nicks of his own, to finish things off. I have never seen Matthew so pumped up. Nor has he hit so many attacking shots - it seemed that at the end of the match he, too, was trying to end rallies. Probably the thought of walking on court with Ramy in less than 24 hours time was playing on his mind and he realized that he did not need to do any more court sprints tonight. The match ended with the crowd on their feet and a loud applause that lasted minutes and delayed the closing speeches for a while. It was wonderful to be there.

The other semi-final was between James Willstrop and Ramy Ashour. Both of these players were also looking very sharp this week. Willstrop dispatched the young Egyptian, Mohd El Shorgaby, earlier in the tournament in a relatively flawless performance. This was reminiscent of last year when he beat Ashour in the finals by playing very few errors. It is hard to believe El Shorgaby just turned twenty years old (remember his name for future). He really impressed the crowds this weekend in his prior match where he showed up with a bunch of outside spin backhand overhead volley’s that the Ashour brothers (there are two of them, yes, keep reading) would have been proud of. How do these guys manage to hit that shot so cleanly all the time? Well, the reality is they don’t. There is a marked difference in consistency between Ramy Ashour, his older brother Hisham Ashour, and Mohd El Shorgaby. They all hit the same backhand and hit their touch shots in front without any under-spin, but Ramy is far more consistent in these shots. In fact he seems to hit over the ball on his backhand cross-courts to the front right. He also seems to use the strings at the top of the racquet, probably to get more angle on the shot, as opposed to the sweet spot in the middle of the racquet, you know, like every other normal squash player. This can be very effective and even if the shot does not nick it stays flat to the front wall and brings his opponent far forward and out of position. This shot is pure genius and nobody else does it like he does.

Aside from his unbelievable shots, Ramy Ashour is also moving really well this week. I am honestly not sure what he is doing exactly (I will have to watch the tapes in slow motion and get back to you), but it seems slightly different than normal and makes his forward lunges seem effortless. David Palmer, in an earlier match against Ramy, remarked to the ref after he got caught on a stroke in the front right that "he (Ramy) moved in too fast for me to get out of the way." Well if that’s true, then Ramy must be moving really quickly, and Palmer’s got bigger problems… (Kidding!).

So we are again set up for an English versus Egyptian dual. If the cold weather is anything to go by then the Englishman has got it made. Below freezing temperatures outside should not be a problem for an Englishman. The Egyptian players must think they have traveled through a Stargate to end up in a freezing cold urban arctic wilderness like the one we are living in right now.

At least the two gents in the finals are likely to have a good clean game of squash. There was another match this weekend between an Egyptian and Englishman that was not quite as clean. Dark horse Hisham Ashour, Ramy’s older brother, faced off against Peter Barker, top ten in the PSA rankings and a seed for the tournament. Theoretically, Barker should have won this convincingly, but the Egyptian is on a hot streak and is playing his best squash ever. And he has just as much talent as his younger brother (In fact, I bet Ramy learned a lot of what he does from Hisham himself, even thought he may not admit it). This match was amazing to me. I have never seen a professional squash player hit so many open shots. In one rally I counted thirteen (13!) cross-courts in a row. Any coach would give a student a hard time for hitting three in a row, never-mind thirteen. But this strategy works for Hisham Ashour. It works sometimes because it can be harder for someone to hit a straight length off a ball that is coming at an angle. You need to take it off the floor, or off your feet, and straighten it out very quickly and under pressure. This normally does not result in the ball being all that tight to the side wall (as returning a rail would) and often puts your opponent in a position to attack. That is pretty much what Hisham is banking on. He has no intention of trading rails with anyone for two hours. He is looking to create an opening to hit one of his killer short shots.

But back to Ashour’s brother, Ramy, who seemed completely in control last night. Willstrop had no answer for the Egyptian’s attacking game. In fact, in the third and final game, Willstrop pulled out all the stops but still fell way behind in points. At one stage, after another great short winner by Ramy, Willstrop actually turned and faced the crowd with an exhausted smile on his face and raised his hands in a gesture as if to say - "I tried, but he is just too good tonight." And he really was. James Willstrop is a great squash player and he just got beaten handily. That is pretty remarkable when you think about it. Ramy Ashour is certainly in the zone right now and if he brings that level of accuracy to the final match later today, I am afraid that Nick Matthew may not be able to stop him.

So tonight we get to see a rare thing - the best two players of their time going head to head in a championship final. It will be the best of English discipline against the best of Egyptian shot-making. It will be one for the record books. And if you don’t have tickets, no worries, you can watch at the front wall, or on the big screens around the venue, or on ESPN3.com. We are truly privileged to get to see this live.

If you watch only one squash match this year, it should be this one. The showdown is at 7.30pm. It is going to be one helluva gunfight.

You say Potato, I say PST

2011-01-14T11:44:00.000-08:00

So I have been deliberately ignoring the whole PSA vs. PST debate, owing to the contentious nature of the argument, and the fact that I think the interested parties on both sides of this predicament are each respectively doing what they think is best for the sport. Squash already lost the Olympic bid twice and we don’t need more negative press that can further harm our hopes of ever being included in the biggest sports showcase known to man. If you don't know much about this whole debacle, let me get you up to speed.

The PST started as the US Pro Squash Tour about a year and a half ago. That name ran afoul of US Squash so it was changed to the PST. The PST is a profit-making venture for the owner, Joe McManus, based in Boston. Assisting Joe is Australian pro and former world number one, David Palmer. This tour is currently run from September to May and has stops in thirteen cities in the US, those where squash is most popular.

The PSA, on the other hand, is the international association for professional squash players that has existed for many years. It is not for profit and is run by a board of mostly former pro squash players. The PSA sanctions the JP Morgan Tournament of Champions, as well as a whole raft of competitions around the world. It was probably a little uncomfortable with the PST from the get-go, but it wasn't until the PST started publishing men's singles rankings which directly conflicted with the PSA's, that the PSA told its players they could not play on both tours. The PSA understandably did not want a rival to come in and devalue its own tour events in the US in any way.

The ban became effective late last year and meant that the PSA pros couldn't compete for some pretty big purses in the US (albeit less than on offer in the big PSA events). But apparently, at a recent PSA Annual General Meeting, none of the PSA players proposed reversing the decision. So it seems that the top pros are ok with it and that the PST represents no competition to the international men's PSA tour. The PST filed suit, however, but then recently dropped it, thank goodness. Apparently there were some compromises on both sides.

So anyway, the first major PSA tournament of the year is the Tournament of Champions at Grand Central starting next weekend. It lasts a full week and includes many of the best squash players in the world. A week later the first PST event of the year happens, the Westchester Open. This event includes many of the best professional squash players in the United States. I would love to tell you that you will have two chances to see the best in the world compete, but, clearly, you do not. The best players in the world will be at the ToC. However, many of the best US-based pros will be playing in the Westchester Open.

What this all means going forward is that there is no cross over between the tours and that every individual player must decide whether they wish to be playing in the PSA or the PST. I don't see the PSA reversing this ban anytime soon. For most pros living in America this means joining the PST. There are more tournaments with 'weaker' players, so more chance of making a few dollars, and more frequently. And it does not require spending on international airfare, which is a lot more than domestic obviously.

I think there will be more and more interest in the PST tour over time as many former PSA players domiciled in the US switch over. This is already happening by default. Any former PSA players who coach locally would have a schedule that precludes them from travelling to PSA tournaments, so the PST makes perfect sense. There are many in this position who have switched over already - John White, former PSA number one and F&M coach; Bradley Ball of England who coaches in New York; Raj Nanda of Australia who coaches just outside New York; John Rooney, Head Coach for the Hackley School and Irish number one. Even Natalie Grainger, former world number one and long time USA number one women’s players will be playing in the next PST tournament. Natalie just retired from an illustrious playing career, but is still heavily involved in the professional game as president of the women's WISPA tour.

So the metamorphosis of PSA players to PST players may just happen organically over time. In fact, the PST is actually speeding up the process by offering $100,000 to the first top ten PSA player who 'converts' to the PST. It makes sense that Thierry Lincou would be the one to do this, given that he is getting to the end of his career anyway and he has already played in a few PST events.

There is enough demand in the US for top level squash competitions from both the players and the fans it appears. I hope the popularity of the sport in the US continues to grow. Then we may see squash going the route of golf, where you have two large organizations, one based in the US and one based in Europe/the Middle East, that co-exist and have two separate player groups. Then what will hopefully happen is a Ryder Cup style tournament between the tours and a World Cup which is independent where the best players from both tours can compete. And then perhaps Bermuda which sits in the middle will host a little playoffs between the four best players of the year to decide who is the overall winner for the year. Who wouldn't want to go to Bermuda to see that?

We all now know how the story started. It remains to be seen how it will end. I hope that whatever happens will be good for the game and that the manner in which events unfold will reflect well on the sport.

We all have a common goal here, we just speak slightly differently.

Happy New Beer

2010-12-31T08:23:00.000-08:00

Tonight, at the strike of midnight, Nick Matthew will regain his world number one squash player status. He has traded the top PSA spot with Ramy Ashour a few times this year but his New Year’s present to himself is reclaiming that honor from Ashour.

Matthew has had a pretty amazing year. Not just relative to two years ago when he had shoulder surgery and could not play at all, but also relative to the record of his peers. In addition to becoming world number one, he also won the Commonwealth Individual Gold as well as the World Champs and thereby becomes England’s first world squash champion, ever. Hard to believe it's taken this long, considering that the English pretty much invented the sport.

Something I really like about our new world number one is the fact that he is so grounded. After getting to the world number one spot he said in an interview "I can't wait to catch up with all my close friends and family….people I’m dying to see and say thank you to - over a beer or two!" Is it not great that when the best player in the world has the best year of his career he still prioritizes seeing those back home who have supported him all along. And then takes a short break in his training to actually have a well-earned beer or two himself.

It is also nice to know that winning the Commonwealth Games, World Open and becoming world number one were all goals Matthew had set himself at the beginning of the year. To achieve them was no small feat and Matthew has been handsomely rewarded for his consistency over the year. He won seven major PSA events in 2010. But, spare a thought for his English compatriot James Willstrop. Matthew beat Willstrop in both the Commonwealth finals and the World Open finals, two matches that, had they gone the other way, would have made the record books look quite different. I don’t think we have heard the end of James Willstrop. James is still relatively young and he is very determined. Don't be surprised if he rises to world number one in the near future. He comes back to New York to defend his Tournament of Champions crown at the end of January. If you are in New York then you should definitely come down to watch. Tickets are available now at http://www.tocsquash.com/.

As far as other young players to look out for in the new year, there are Mohamed El Shorbagy, Daryl Selby and Cameron Pilley. They are all climbing the rankings and have long careers ahead of them. Then there are also the dark horses, Aamir Atlas Khan and Hashim Ashour, two players who have the talent to pull off major upsets. Watch out for them, too. Read more about each of these players by clicking on the link on the right labelled 'Follow The Professionals'.

Another one to watch is U.S. number two squash player, Gilly Lane. He has slowly and steadily been climbing the world rankings and, not unlike Nick Matthew, has seen his progress stalled by injury. He will be back though and will be better than ever. In fact, he too has been writing goals for himself for 2011. Here are some ideas he may wish to include in his plan, if I may be so bold as to make these suggestions – 1) Stay healthy. 2) Learn to play like John White, from John White. If he achieves the first two then he will likely achieve the next two. 3) Win the U.S. Nationals. 4) Get into the top 30 in the PSA world rankings. 5) Share knowledge and love of the game with as many people as possible, most specifically the students he is coaching. Even if he only achieves the last one then we are all collectively better off. But would it not be great to see another American player do really well on the world stage. Julian Illingworth, US number one, has already broken into the top 30 in the world.

For the rest of us, just put the following down on your list of resolutions: 1) See the world’s best professional squash players in action at Grand Central in the JP Morgan Tournament of Champions at the end of January. 2) And then try to emulate them on court for the rest of the year. That should be plenty as far as squash goes. The rest (including whether or not you have a beer tonight) is totally up to you.

Happy New Year to one and all!

Run to the Roar

2010-12-10T14:32:00.001-08:00

Few books I have read in my life have stirred such a strong emotional response in me. In part because of my love for the game, in part because I know many of the key characters, and in large part because I can relate to the human drama that is woven into the book from start to finish.

It can be very hard to do the right thing when it comes to those you love. And it can be hard to follow your dreams, especially when those dreams take you to the other side of the world, far from the comforts and protections of everything and everyone you know so well. Both of these themes are familiar to me and are addressed again and again in the book.

'Run to the Roar' is a book by Paul Assaiante, Trinity head squash coach, and James Zug, acclaimed squash writer. It is a wonderful roller-coaster of joy and despair, triumph and tragedy. It neatly summarizes the events of one day in February 2009 when Trinity played Princeton in a College Squash Association finals in Princeton, New Jersey. Assaiante dedicates a chapter to each player.

In addition to the outcome of each match is a back story about the Trinity student, his character, his relationship with Paul and how he came to be there on that day. The tension escalates throughout the book and culminates in the final match played by Trinity number one, Baset Chaudhry. The epilogue mentions an even more infamous match played by Chaudhry against Yale's Ken Chan which ended on every sports channel on TV - the infamous outburst at the end of the match. But this particular moment is a non-event in the book. It is first mentioned on the last page. So if you are looking for gore, look elsewhere.

This is a story of pressure, passion, courage and victory. This is a human story and is less about squash and more about what it takes to successfully lead a bunch of young men to overcome their fears and achieve greatness in sport.

You may be interested to know that I sat next to Chaudhry recently at a tournament dinner and I can tell you with certainty that his outburst was completely out of character and he should never by judged by it. He was nothing but polite and respectful and humble. In fact, I would go as far as to say that he has a very sweet and charming way about him. But you also get the distinct feeling that he is a very determined and serious young man. The book will tell you more.

I encourage you to buy 'Run to the Roar' (get it at Amazon.com) and I sincerely hope you enjoy reading the book and that it moves you the way it did me. And after you finish it you will feel like you know Paul Assaiante and the players on his team of 2009 very well, and you will like all these characters very much. Furthermore, no matter your college affiliation, you will inevitably come to respect Coach Paul for what he has achieved. It is a special story that will be told for generations to come.

New Blood

2010-12-03T12:59:00.000-08:00

This Monday I witnessed one of the best amateur squash matches ever played at the Printing House. Also in attendance was a member of the club that is responsible for the conversion of the courts from racquetball a few decades ago and the subsequent expansion over the years to its current five international singles courts. He said it was the best (non-PSA) game he had ever seen at the club in all that time. Quite a statement, I thought.

It was a Men’s 5.5 league game between the number one players from Printing House and Yale Club, Gustav Detter and Lee Rosen respectively. The pace was furious and the match was closely contested, even though Gustav won 3-0 in the end. Lee made some lunges that were superb and almost defied belief. Some rallies looked like they ended five times over. Lee is extremely fit and is incredibly gutsy. But Gustav is a lefty and he used this to full advantage by bringing the game over to the left wall where he played angles and holds that a right handed player could never do. It is rare that you see a good squash player like Lee get beaten by a simple hold straight drive so many times in one match. Gustav is the real deal.

This match happened in good time too, given that the squash courts at the Printing House are meant to be closing down pretty soon (see my previous blog article). This was scheduled to be in twelve days from now, but it sounds like Equinox may be delaying this. Would it not be great if they could end up with a temporary glitch in their renovation plans... you know, given that there is nothing more permanent than a temporary thing. We can only hope against hope.

Anyway, Gustav and Lee are both only a few years out of school and went to Trinity and Penn respectively. And they are not the only two players from these schools to be playing in the league this season. A few other former Trinity players just joined the Men’s 5.5 league in New York (there are at least three that I know of, with a fourth about to join). And there are a bunch of guys from Penn and other really good squash schools that are also playing in the city leagues for the first time this year. Last season there were six teams competing at the 5.5 level - this year there are ten teams. This is going to bode very well for squash in New York, generally.

The arrival in New York of new good squash players is also reflected in the draw for the Gold Racquet tournament this weekend, which is significantly stronger than last year, probably the strongest draw in five years in fact. Gilly Lane, U.S. number two squash player, is the top seed for the event and is expected to win the singles draw (there is a doubles draw too). But, not only does he have to beat a few of his teammates on the US team to win, he will also have to progress past a few of the best college players in recent memory - most notably, Baset Chaudhry. Baset, is the former Trinity number one who just graduated and is now living in New York. It is going to be interesting to see how some of the best professional players in the country fare against these top college players, bearing in mind that they have not played much against each other, in formal competition anyway. Whilst these guys were in school they were not competing in leagues or tournaments outside of the college matches. I think there is a CSA rule that stops them from doing that.

But their college days are over and the time has come to see how they stack up against everyone else. If this week’s league game is anything to go by they will do very well. Either way, there is going to be some awesome squash happening in Long Island this weekend, as well as over the course of the league season in New York. There will be many more tournaments in the city where you can see these world class athletes compete. Just go to http://www.msra.net/ and click on tournaments to see the schedule of events.

The End of an Era

2010-11-18T19:41:00.000-08:00

Three weeks ago the Printing House Squash and Fitness Club announced the end of an era. Equinox have bought the Printing House gym and, as a consequence, the squash club will be permanently closing on December 15th this year. Rest assured, the sale of the club to Equinox was not prompted by anything squash related. It was purely for financial reasons on the part of the owners. That's all there is to say about that - no big story, sorry.

What follows, however, you may find interesting and, as always, is purely a reflection of my opinions - which start off depressing, but please keep reading.

For those who don't know, Equinox is a large corporation with a chain of high end gyms located in New York State, Connecticut, California, Chicago, Florida, Boston, D.C. and Dallas. In addition to the usual weights training and aerobic fitness facilities they provide group fitness classes, personal training, spinning and spa treatments. They do not, however, provide any squash.

In the interest of keeping the Printing House courts as they are, there is a group of members at the squash club that has been in touch with the corporation, but Equinox has not committed to saying anything on the matter, aside from the fact that senior management must still make the decision as to whether to keep the courts or not. So, there is a meeting next week where this group of squash players from the Printing House will present their financial analyses and plead their case to senior management.

This may or may not be effective. Equinox have likely paid millions of dollars (I am guessing on the number - it was a private sale) for the club and are most probably closing down the entire premises on December 15th in order to rebuild and then re-open the gym (sans squash) as soon as possible in the New Year. So we will most likely be out of squash courts come December 15th. Of course, I would love to be proved wrong, but really I think the Equinox guys have already run the numbers and know, to their minds anyway, that they can do better by converting the space and following the same business model which they have applied many times before in locations all around the United States.

I mean seriously, why on earth would they stray from this proven formula in a club that will likely be a jewel in their portfolio? The bottom line is: they very likely won't. And they certainly won't change their minds based on the (however realistic) projections and (however lucrative) alternative offers from existing members of the squash club. Even if all of the regular active members of the club (around 250) signed a petition this would probably still not convince them. All it would do is to prove that the current membership really love squash. This fact is certainly not in dispute, just look at the number of members of the new Facebook group called 'Equinox, Keep My Squash' and perhaps read all the messages they have posted: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_168627143165862&notif_t=group_activity

But this is not about squash. It is simply about the economics.

I really would like nothing more than to see the courts remain as they are. They have been a big part of my life for many years and it is particularly devastating for me personally. I, along with many of you, have made many good personal friends over the years at the club and I hope that this will not change anything between us. In fact, I hope that we all stand together and find a new space, and start a new club worthy of the sport. You know, a dedicated squash facility the likes of those seen in Canada and at many U.S. colleges and prep schools.

And that is the good news in all of this: There is a group of people already planning exactly that. And you should know what our single biggest obstacle is: the price of real estate in New York. Take that out of the equation and this would not be nearly as big a problem. Squash is never going to be a money making venture in New York City. Unless the supply demand ratios shift significantly. i.e. prices remain depressed for an extended period and squash becomes immensely popular, like as popular as tennis or golf. That may lie in the future, stranger things have happened, but it does not factor into our current predicament.

Some people may not be surprised by what has happened. They say squash is on the decline world wide. That squash clubs in London and Sydney and South Africa that were once bastions of the sport are being left to die slow painful deaths, or are simply being converted for other uses. I am afraid that this may actually be the sad truth. That trend, however, does not apply to the US. In the US squash is growing rapidly - at least based on all the statistics I have seen. So what is happening to the Printing House is not indicative of squash in New York or in the US generally. The closure of the last remaining genuine squash club in downtown Manhattan is owing to factors external to the sport. This is not the first time a club has fallen victim to external influences. And it probably won't be the last.

So, the only question that remains is this: Can we, as squash players, as New Yorkers, as a community of fellow-minded individuals, beat the naysayers, beat the world-wide odds, beat the real estate market, and come up with a new squash club all our own in downtown Manhattan. A squash club dedicated to the interests of its members and not to the financial mistakes/whims/short-sightedness of the owners/corporations/management. A club that most anyone could afford to join. A club that partakes in all the leagues. A club that runs regular tournaments. A club that people love to belong to. Where they come and play and hang out, long after the lights on the squash courts are switched off. A club where good friendships are formed. A club where juniors and students can play and develop their game. A club where real coaching is being performed. And where stars are being developed. And a club where there is no risk of it all being snatched away with only five weeks notice..!

This may all be a figment of my imagination. But wouldn't it be nice.

From Bermuda With Love

2010-10-28T23:02:00.000-07:00

Next Saturday a British friend of mine - a man who may just be the coolest man alive, let us call him James Bond shall we - is throwing a bon voyage party at Chelsea Piers. He is going away for at least a year and has invited a good bunch of people to see him off.

He has even invited DJ ?uestlove to take care of the music, so the party promises to be a lot of fun. Then at the end of the night, after enough beers have been drunk, stories have been told, and well wishes have been shared, James and seven other squash friends will be stepping onto his yacht, waving goodbye to the crowd, and sailing away into the moonlit night en route to Bermuda.

Talk about a dramatic exit.

When you consider that he has sold his Soho apartment, pulled his kids out of school and is taking his entire family sailing for a year of their lives, I guess it is quite fitting and is not that dramatic of a goodbye. But, if you consider that, for this initial leg anyway, he is really only transporting a bunch of friends to a squash tournament in Bermuda, well, then it may be slightly overdone. Especially given that that the rest of the touring side will simply be flying there the Thursday after. Did you know that Bermuda is only an hour and a half by air from New York (with a tailwind)?

The squash tournament was started a few years ago and has grown in popularity each year. This time around the two biggest squash clubs on the island will be competing against two invitational sides from New York and New England. Each side has twelve players, consisting of both men and women, so there will be almost fifty squash players in total converging in Bermuda to compete for the tournament shield. And to have fun generally, of course.

The squash, by design, coincides with another really popular event on the island, the World Rugby Classic. Check out www.worldrugby.bm It is a tournament played between the world's best rugby playing nations and always makes for good viewing - and good partying. In fact, the rugby is just one of many weeks you would want to be in Bermuda. There is also the Newport Bermuda Yacht Race, the PGA Grand Slam (which my fellow countryman, Ernie Els, won a week ago), and Cup Match, an annual cricket match between the two best club sides in Bermuda. Like in much of the Caribbean, cricket is the most popular sport on the island. I am sure squash is high on the popularity list too. In fact, Bermuda won the Caribbean Champs earlier this year and even sent a squash team to the Commonwealth Games in India a month ago.

Anyway, after three wonderful days of fun in the sun, and once the New York team (I hope) has won the shield and it is stowed safely away in the trophy cabinet in Bermuda, the touring side will fly home; but James will continue on to the Virgin Islands. And after enough island hopping in the Caribbean, and this year's big storms have passed, he plans to sail across the Atlantic and end up somewhere in the Mediterranean next year. I am thinking Monte Carlo may be a good place to finish the journey, not just because this is a fitting exit point for James Bond, but also because it is probably a good place to be when trying to sell a well-used 55 foot catamaran - or to trade it in for a new one.

On the way James plans on stopping in at squash clubs on each island paradise he lands on, you know, in the interests of exporting goodwill and generally maintaining the Queen's interests abroad. To keep track of James and read the notes from his journey, check out the website he has created at www.sailingondine.com You will not find a cooler website anywhere on the internet.

Nor will you find a cooler way to get to a squash tournament.

Nightmare on Achilles Street

2010-10-15T10:31:00.001-07:00

Two weeks ago, I fell victim to one of the most debilitating yet most common injuries a squash player can endure. I ruptured the Achilles tendon in my left leg.

It happened on court during a match whilst lunging for a forehand drop. I spent the whole rest of that day asking around for surgery recommendations. All roads led to the Hospital for Special Surgery on New York's Upper East Side. They were great and operated on me same day as seeing me. Even though I was totally incapable of walking after the injury, it did not hurt as much as I thought it would and the whole experience at the hospital was quite pleasant actually. Relative to the thought of this going unattended and me limping around for the rest of my life, the experience was wonderful. Thank goodness for modern medicine, I kept thinking.

The few weeks subsequent to surgery have truly sucked though. It is the stuff nightmares are made of. In fact, I am not even going to write about it.

If you care to know, the Achilles tendon is a large rope-like band of fibrous tissue in the back of the ankle that connects the calf muscles to the heel bone. It is the largest tendon in the human body. Your Achilles tendon allows you to point your foot downward, rise on your toes and push off your foot as you walk. You rely on it virtually every time you move your foot. Clearly it is relied upon heavily whilst playing squash.

In most cases, a rupture of the Achilles tendon occurs at a spot on the tendon that receives less blood flow and is thus weakened. When the doctor opens you up he can tell whether this is the case based upon where and how the tendon breaks. The best case for a healthy tendon is a break that results in a frayed end. This is harder to operate on but is a sign of a healthy tendon (before the injury) and will likely heal well. The doctor said mine broke high up and looked liked a horse’s tail. So that is a good thing, I hope.

Ruptures often are caused by a sudden increase in the amount of stress on your Achilles tendon. A rupture normally happens when you make a forceful push-off with your foot while your knee is straightened. The full force of one of the most powerful muscles in your body (your thigh) is transmitted through your tendon. A great example of this is your starting position for a forward lunge off the T on a squash court.

My opponent was buried in the back left and boasted the ball to the front. I had no need to move as quickly as I did (I mean, tried to) but wanted to, as a quick deft drop may have earned me game ball. So I did a usual (i.e. subconscious) split step where you right foot goes forward and your left goes back to push off. The problem was - my left leg got too low and too straight and the angle of my foot relative to my leg was too acute, so my thigh and calf pushed down with too much force for the tendon to bear at that angle and it just snapped.

But I have done that movement many times before. So, as for the underlying reasons, I guess age is a factor that may have contributed. It was not owing to a lack of warming up. I did stretch before the game, and we had been playing for forty five minutes at that point. I suspect there may be another more sinister reason though. There is one obvious thing that I did differently than before.

I find this a rather morbid thought: I was playing squash at 7am in the morning. And I never used to play squash in the morning; it always seemed harder. As a young man, I remember playing in tournaments and always faring better in the afternoon or evening games. And there are many people who swear that squash is way too hard on your body to play it early in the morning. I knew this, so what was I thinking? It is safe to assume I will now add the following to my list of do's and don’ts to protect my body: "Don't play hard games of squash early in the morning.”

This does not mean morning exercise is out completely, however. Jonah Barrington, a world squash champion in his late thirties, believed that a training session in the morning was worth two training sessions later in the day. If by that he meant your body has to work harder in the morning (in the same activities) then I would tend to agree with him. I think I'll stick to more moderate activity when I wake up from now on, like swimming or just walking to the kitchen, or something.

Anyway, during surgery the Achilles tendon is stitched together and a vestigial muscle (I like to think bionic) is harvested and wrapped around the Achilles tendon, increasing the strength of the repaired tendon. Is that why the lower calf always looks thicker on those that have had the surgery? I am not a doctor so what do I know.

In the final analysis, I take comfort in the fact that many friends and squash players have suffered through the same nightmare and have made a full recovery. Plus, I am part bionic now so totally expect to come back stronger than before.

At the very least, I'll have a nice gory scar to remind me that the nightmare was, in fact, real.

Fancy a Little Fantasy Fun?

2010-10-01T08:51:00.000-07:00

This weekend the finals of the US Open Squash are being played in Chicago. If you are reading this, you probably aren't there. As you would expect, some of the best US-based professional squash players entered this tournament. Notably, the following New York-based pros: Wael El Hindi, Julian Illingworth, Chris Gordon and Bradley Ball.

There are, however, some notable exceptions to the line up. Specifically the former world number one, David Palmer, is based in the US but is not playing in the US Open. If you are wondering where he is, wonder no longer... he is at the Commonwealth Games in India. In fact, if you look closely at the US Open line up, you will realize that there are none of the top players from England either. That's because they are all in India competing against the best players from Canada, Scotland, Australia, Pakistan and India, amongst other countries. I think that shows just how patriotic squash players are. Nobody is getting paid to play at the Commonwealth Games. The players are there for national pride. And for the medals, of course. After reaching world number one and winning the British Open Nick Matthew declared that winning a Commonwealth Gold was his next big goal. He proves this by his absence from the US Open this weekend.

Is it not great that the highest honor for a professional sportsman, even in non-team sports, still remains playing for his country and not for himself?

At his opening speech at the Ryder Cup yesterday Colin Montgomerie said that captaining the European team was the greatest honor bestowed upon him as a golfer in his lifetime. But we sort of knew that already. Monty's fierce competitiveness is well documented. Did you know that he has played in eight Ryder Cups, having never lost in the individual matchplay. And at the same time never having earned a dollar from the competition. I think it would be fair to say he raises his game for the sake of his beloved Scotland.

Anyway, if you are sad to be missing out by not being at the US Open Squash in Chicago this weekend (or in India, or in Wales) don't be, because I have some good news for you... Next week, after the dust settles on Lake Michigan, there is a little professional tournament in New York where you can watch those very same four New York-based players I mentioned above compete. It is called the NYC Open and will be played at Cityview (Monday) and Sports Club LA (Tuesday and Wednesday). And, not only can you go and watch these guys play, but you can also bet on who will win each game in an online fantasy bracket. Just click on the link on the right labeled, 'Watch the Pros Play Live'.

If you choose the winners correctly and thereby win the fantasy competition, the winner of the NYC Open (whomever he may be on Wednesday evening) will be driven/flown out to your club to play a squash game against YOU, at your convenience. That is a pretty nice reward for about 60 seconds of 'work'.

The dawn of Fantasy Squash - yet another way to get your squash fix. And, like the Ryder Cup golf on TV, perfect for those of us who are holed up at home with, for example, a snapped Achilles.

King Khan

2010-09-24T15:50:00.000-07:00

In my youth the best squash players I heard about were the two consecutive World Champions from Pakistan, Jahangir Khan and then Jansher Khan. Given how long they remained at the top of the game, I naturally assumed they were the two best squash players up to that point in history. But recently I discovered that there was another Khan, named Hashim, who preceded the other two by about two decades. And Hashim Khan may just have been better, given what he achieved and how he did it. Either way, these Khans are three of the best players to have ever played the game. I am sure anyone in Pakistan would tell you they are the three best ever.

Today there are Khans in North America who are descendants or relatives of these great players. Last December I was fortunate enough to watch a young man (named Khan, not sure how he is related though) play in the finals of the Gold Racquet Doubles. It was one of the most perfect games of squash (by an individual) that I have ever witnessed. As far as I could tell this gentleman had completely perfect shot selection and only made two execution errors in five games of squash. If you think that is easy and everyone can do it watch a professional match and count the errors. They say Jahangir Khan had perfect shot selection. I imagine this gave me a glimpse of what he would have been like on court. I would have loved to have seen the Khans play.

Actually, come to think of it, I have a friend at my local club named Khan. He is a good guy and is a really athletic and talented man, but he is no squash champion (sorry Z). He does come from the same town though as Jansher Khan. He says that Jansher would, when reserving one of their local courts, sign his name in the booking sheets simply as *world champion*. Clearly he would have been entertaining to see in action.

I suspect the real one to watch though would have been Hashim himself. Jonah Barrington described Hashim's playing style as "unlovely and relentless". Compared with the classic style that was being played elsewhere in the world at the time, particularly in Egypt and Britain. When Hashim came onto the scene he played a "primitive and destructive game". They say Hashim tore up and down the court like a marauding savage. I imagine not unlike Genghis Khan who, eight centuries earlier, used speed and surprise on the battlefield to conquer almost the entire known world.

He was a hunter with a quick predatory approach, combining astonishing speed with naked aggression. These are words used to describe Hashim (on court), not Genghis (on the battlefield). In fact, Barrington went as far as to say that Hashim "brutalized the game" beyond anything that had ever been seen and effectively created a new style of squash. And he did this not owing to any set precedent, but purely out of raw instinct and a basic understanding of what was required to win at squash.

But why believe what is written about Hashim Khan, you can watch a movie about him for yourself next Thursday in New York. After seven years in the making the award-winning documentary - "Keep Eye on Ball: The Hashim Khan Story" tells how this warrior broke through from nowhere to conquer and rule the entire known squash world.

It should come as no surprise that the name Khan literally means King.

For all the info click on the link on the right labeled 'Watch Squash Films'.