U.S. Open Squash

The qualifying draw for the 2012 Delaware Investments U.S. Open, to be played out over four Philadelphia locations on October 4 and 5, has thrown up some intriguing, some unfortunate, and some downright exciting matchups that are sure to kick off the PSA $115,000 World Series event in style.

Miguel Rodriguez from Columbia

Drexel University, which will be hosting all the main draw U.S. Open matches from Saturday, gets a wonderful selection as local Philadelphian (British ex-pat) pre-qualifiers Jamie Macaulay and Joe Russell take on New Zealand #1 one and Indian #2 Siddarth Suchde respectively.

Those matches are followed by the undoubtebly gripping match of the day as Drexel’s own head coach John White, the hard-hitting former world number one, meets Colombia’s in-form and athletic Miguel Angel Rodriguez. One of the fastest players around, with a host of unconventional shots and an entertaining propensity to dive for the ball, sometimes several times in a rally, Rodriguez like White is a crowd favourite wherever he plays.  The match is sure to draw some enthusiastic spectators.

USA’s Graham Bassett

South African Steve Coppinger and Englishman Adrian Waller will have a hard act to follow to round off the action at Drexel, but they’ll certainly be up for it.

Fans at the historic Racquet Club of Philadelphia will also get to see two locals in action, as USA’s Chris Hansen and Graham Bassett meet stylish young Frenchman Greg Marche and Hong Kong’s Max Lee. Preceding that Canadian #1 Shahier Razik meets Pakistani Yasir Butt and an all-Aussie clash finished off the evening as Zac Alexander – who qualified from the same venue with two hour-long wins last year – meets compatriot Matthew Karwalski.

First up at Merion Cricket Club is another ex-pat Englishman, the club’s head coach Alex Stait, who faces another Aussie in Ryan Cuskelly. After a potentially long meeting between Karim Abdel Gawad and Campbell Grayson the home crowd then gets to cheer on the USA’s Todd Harrity against all-action Scot Alan Clyne, finishing off ith a potentially explosive match between Canada’s Shawn Delierre and Egyptian Omar Abdel Aziz.

USA’s Todd Harrity

Matches at Germantown Cricket Club start with two rather unfortunate ‘local derbies’, Englishmen Chris Simpson and Joe Lee, followed by home stars Julian Illingworth and Dylan Murray.

Julian Illingworth is current USA number one star, world ranked #28 and playing on the professional circuit.  He will take on Dylan Murray, the up-and-coming youngster of the USA, current junior national champion and future star.  The game is sure to be a good one, and it’s unfortunate that the match up means that only one of these national squash champions will continue through the event.

Both should be good matches, and two more follow with world junior champion Marwan El Shorbagy facing Mexico’s tenacious Cesar Salazar – world ranking 26 v 52 but don’t let that fool you into thinking it will be quick – and Aamir Atlas Kan versus Henrik Mustonen, speedy Pakistani against fast-improving Finn.

So there you have it – one of the most interesting qualifying draws, ever, but you can only be in one place at a time. All we can say is you won’t be disappointed if you can get to any of the venues, or of course you follow it all here …

As they say in Philly, stay tuned …

To view the full qualifying draw, click here.

USA’s junior champ, Dylan Murray

04-Oct, Qualifying Round One

DREXEL UNIVERSITY:
17.00 Martin Knight (Nzl) v Jamie Macaulay (Sco)
18.00 Siddharth Suchde (Ind) v Joe Russell (Eng)
19.00 Miguel Angel Rodriguez (Col) v John White (Sco)
20.00 Steve Coppinger (Rsa) v Adrian Waller (Eng)

RACQUET CLUB OF PHILADELPHIA:
17.00 Shahier Razik (Can) v Yasir Butt (Pak)
18.00 Gregoire Marche (Fra) v Christopher Hanson (Usa)
19.00 Max Lee (Hkg) v Graham Bassett (Usa)
20.00 Zac Alexander (Aus) v Matthew Karwalski (Aus)

MERION CRICKET CLUB:
17.00 Ryan Cuskelly (Aus) v Alex Stait (Eng)
18.00 Karim Abdel Gawad (Egy) v Campbell Grayson (Nzl)
19.00 Alan Clyne (Sco) v Todd Harrity (Usa)
20.00 Shawn Delierre (Can) v Omar Abdel Aziz (Egy)

GERMANTOWN CRICKET CLUB:
17.00 Chris Simpson (Eng) v Joe Lee (Eng)
18.00 Julian Illingworth (Usa) v Dylan Murray (Usa)
19.00 Marwan El Shorbagy (Egy) v Cesar Salazar (Mex)
20.00 Aamir Atlas Khan (Pak) v Henrik Mustonen (Fin)

Article by Will Heyman and Kristi Maroc

With just two months to go until the world’s best squash players arrive in the United States to challenge for the prestigious U.S. Open title, and local pre-qualifiers currently underway at clubs across the city, anticipation is growing within the Philadelphia and broader squash community as the 2012 Delaware Investments U.S. Open Squash Championships near.

Squash has rapidly risen to new heights and popularity at U.S. Open’s host venue Drexel University in recent years thanks to the addition of a varsity squash team boasting the legendary former world #1 John White as head coach, and a new five court squash facility.

The buzz is quickly spreading among local sports lovers and students who are looking forward to the opportunity to witness the prestigious World Series event.

22-year old senior Amey Khanolkar, who has played on the Drexel Club Squash team for three years and the Varsity Squash team for one year, is thrilled to see all his favorite international professional athletes battling it out on his home campus.

“Being an avid squash player and an enthusiastic follower of the professional squash tour, I can’t wait to see the pros play on the glass court from up close,” Amey said.

“It’s such an amazing opportunity for people in the U.S. to get to see the world’s best international squash stars compete at this World Series level.”

“I’m especially looking forward to seeing Ramy Ashour play this year, it’s great news that he is going to be there.  He’s an absolute magician with the squash racquet, it’ll be incredible to watch live,” Amey said excitedly.

Also eager to see the world-class event is 21-year old Dylan Siegfried, a rising junior who learned about squash just last year thanks to the U.S. Open.

“I didn’t really know much about squash until last year when the U.S. Open was here and my friend who loves squash dragged me along.”

“They turned the DAC into an awesome venue with a sensational center stage and all the biggest names in squash from around the world. I’m pumped to watch it again this year.”

The ‘DAC’ as it is affectionately known around campus is Drexel’s Daskalaskis Athletic Center, where a world-class all-glass showcase court and expo arena will be constructed in October to house the U.S. Open.  The impressive first-class facility includes five squash courts, a swimming pool, a golf center, and a gymnasium featuring four courts for recreational, intramural, club volleyball, basketball and badminton.

“Squash is developing such an enthusiastic following here at Drexel,” Dylan said.

“Sometimes in the evenings I go to the squash courts to play with a friend, but unless you reserve a court there are so many people wanting to play you often have to wait quite a while.”

Students aren’t the only ones who are excited.  Drexel Athletic department staff are keen to host again this year, following the success in 2011.

“We are so proud to have the opportunity to host this fantastic event,” said John White.

“It was a great success last year showcasing the U.S. Open and Drexel University to a large national and international squash community.”

The U.S. Open Squash Championships attract national and international visitors to Philadelphia, and are also broadcast to an audience of international fans via SquashTV and it’s network of 18 television distributors.

John White was one of the local contenders to participate in the U.S. Open last year, and will play again this year.

“Playing in front of the crowds that come to Philadelphia for this event is terrific.  Not only are there the students and local Philadelphians, but also tons of passionate squash players and fans who travel from all over the country and even overseas to be a part of it…it’s an awesome atmosphere.”

• To see former world professional PSA squash player Gilly Lane take you on a fun look around his hometown of Philadelphia, head to www.usopensquash.com/philadelphia
• Information about tickets for the 2012 Delaware Investments U.S. Open Squash Championships can be found at www.usopensquash.com/tickets
• Drexel students are entitled to a limited number of FREE tickets to the U.S. Open each day!  Conditions apply, further details can be found at http://www.usopensquash.com/tickets/individual-tickets

Philadelphia is a diverse and dynamic sports destination, a city with a deep history in squash and an passionate and dedicated squash community.

Check out the video below in which former world professional PSA squash player Gilly Lane takes you on a fun look around the 2012 Delaware Investments U.S. Open host city and his hometown, Philadelphia.

A special thank you to the following people and organizations for their support of the 2012 Delaware Investments U.S. Open and the making of this video:

• Gilly Lane
• John White
• Nick Matthew
• Nicol David
• Drexel University
• Delaware Investments

It may not have been the result the crowd wanted, when Saurav Ghosal, the top seed in the qualifying competition, won his first round match last night.

That’s because the speedy Indian number one was playing Drexel’s own John White, the former world number one who retired from the tour a few years ago to take up coaching in the US, but thanks to his style, personality, and awesome hitting power – he still holds the squash ‘Speed Record’ at 172mph – is still one of the biggest draws around, whether it be in Legends tournaments or his occasional PSA forays like yesterday.

Now 38, White spent four years as head coach of Franklin and Marshall College before taking up the position at Drexel on 1st July this year.

“I arrived at a great time, just as the University were completing a deal with US Squash to host the US Open for three years,” he explained.

“So I’ve been involved with this tournament from the day I started, with US Squash, the Faculty, the Volunteers, the local community, making sure that everyone is on board, knows what it’s all about, and geared up to make it a big success.

“As soon as the event’s over the College Squash season begins, and this will be Drexel’s first year at Varsity level. Coming here was a great opportunity for me to build a program from scratch, rather than stepping into someone else’s boots.

“It’s going to be a learning season – when I first came it was a case of asking around if anyone had played squash before, and if they said yes they were on the team!

“We’ll be starting at the bottom with the Boys ranked #40 and the Girls at #36, so we can’t put expectations high, the only aim is to get a season under our belts and hopefully get some “W”s recorded but that’s not the important thing.

“In season #2 we’ll be running a full schedule and may be looking at recruiting once we’ve established ourselves as a squash-playing College.”

Naturally many of the team were out as “Great White” supporters last night, and responsible for the frequent “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie” calls – although they did forget to add the “oi, oi, oi” at the end.

“We made sure all the team members, boys and girls, we on the volunteer list for the US Open,” added White. “They didn’t take any persuasion and hopefully they’ll learn a lot just from being around the world’s best players over the next week.”

It’s a pity they won’t have John himself to support on court, but his off court presence will definitely be a big factor in this tournament.

Don’t try this at home

One thing, kids – don’t try to emulate one of the things the master did last night on court – in the middle of the second game Saurav hit a ball wide of White’s racket. John followed the ball, and facing the back wall shaped up to deliver one of his fearsome strikes.

Everyone in the audience shrunk into their seats, while Saurav did his best to curl up into a ball, a look of horror on his face. WHAAAAAAAAACK, came the sound as John hammered the ball with full 172mph venom.

“I thought I was dead,” said Saurav afterwards.

And so he would have been had the ball hit him, But by the time Saurav turned round, John had caught the ball, which he had smacked directly into the side wall, perfectly safely, and in a gentle, enquiring voice, said “Let, please?”.

Cue relief and laughter, but, like we say, don’t try it at home, please, there’s only one person who can get away with that … the Great White.