What's been happening in the world of squash (9th to 15th of January 2017)

The ToC on its tracks in NYC

The Tournament of Champions, which started a few days ago in New York, is a favourite among the players because of its venue. The full glass court is set up in Grand Central Station, one of the largest ones in the world. Consequently, thousands of commuters stop to watch to the matches on their way home, which brings an unusual exposure to the event. Courtside, we already know the semifinalists in the top half of the Men's draw, where Mohamed El Shorbagy will face Grégory Gaultier on Wednesday evening. If the Frenchman had to get himself out of a difficult situation against Fares Dessouky in the second round, coming back from a two game deficit, the world number 1 won his three first matches without dropping a single game, including last night against his younger brother Marwan. Gaultier leads 10-8 in their head-to-head but the Egyptian won 8 of the 9 last encounters. In the bottom half, the presence of James Willstrop and Paul Coll in the quarters could seem like a surprise based on their rankings (11th and 20th) but not so much considering their current form. The Englishman finally put an end to an incredible losing streak against rival Nick Matthew (19 matches over a 9 year period), whereas the Kiwi not only got his first top 10 scalp (Ali Farag) but also reached the last 8 of a World Series for the first time. Willstrop won their sole encounter - in 3 close games last May in Canary Wharf – but Coll is a different player now. The last quarterfinal features world champion Karim Abdel Gawad – whose victory 11-9 in the fifth over Cameron Pilley extends his winning streak to 13 matches – and Simon Rosner. Will the German finally manage to reach a semifinal in a WS event after sixteen losses in the quarterfinals? This question will be answered tonight.

The women's tour has been dominated by eight players lately: they featured in the quarters of four of the six World Series events in 2016. Englishwoman Sarah-Jane Perry managed to upset the order of things last night, beating New Yorker Amanda Sobhy. The Birmingham-born had already had a good start in 2016-2017, with a first win over Nicol David in Egypt last September (“which was huge for me and this win today is similar to that,” said Perry). But she's played 10 games in the first two rounds and will need to have fully recovered if she wants to continue her run against Raneem El Welily, and qualify for a WS semi-final for the first time. The three other quarterfinals will be classics of the game: Nour El Sherbini v Nicol David (6-4 to the Egyptian including five consecutive wins), Camille Serme v Nouran Gohar (their last two encounters won by Gohar were fierce battles), and Laura Massaro v Omneya Abdel Kawy (7-10 but the Englishwoman won their 4 last meetings).

Sarah-Jane Perry produced one the biggest upsets of the tournament so far (Photo credit: PSA World Tour)

Weekly news

--- Two female top players announced the end of their career last week. If Natalie Grinham's was not a surprise, Malaysian Delia Arnold's announcement at only 30 years old came a bit of a shock. World number 17 said that “(she) had a long career and decided that it was time to move on with my life.” (Source: Malaysian Star). Her main achievement was to reach the 2015 British Open semi-final, a result which enabled her to get to a highest ranking of 12th in the world. As far as she is concerned, 38 year old Grinham exited on one of the biggest stages at the Tournament of Champions, losing to Joelle King in the first round. “I’m extremely honoured to have been given the w­ildcard to end my p­rofessional career at such a fantastic event.” she said. (Source: www.psaworldtour.com). “It was a ­difficult decision to­ make because it’s no­t that my body has said ‘I can’t do thi­s any more’ – it’s just­ become too­ difficult to fit tournaments into family life.” Mother of two children, the Dutchwoman (formerly Australian) has been world number 2 and four times world championship runner-up. The highlight of her career is the 2006 Commonwealth Games where she clinched three gold medals in singles, doubles (with her older Rachael who is still playing at 39) and mixed doubles.

Natalie Grinham said goodbye to the PSA World Tour (Photo credit: squashsite.co.uk)

--- The Professional Squash Association (PSA) and World Squash Federation (WSF) have agreed that a 'strategic alliance' is of paramount importance in order for squash to continue advancing in the global sporting field. "In order for squash to achieve greater visibility and profile around the world it is vital that there is a strong working partnership between the WSF and PSA," said newly-elected WSF President Jacques Fontaine. Ensuring the sport's successful integration into future Olympic Games, creating a centrally unified refereeing structure and expanding of the sport's commercial and broadcast arms are all elements which will be fundamental to the success of the partnership. "In recent years the Professional Tour has made enormous strides as it has led the way in both broadcasting and presentation whilst squash has grown in participation levels and public interest," said PSA Chief Executive Alex Gough. "In order to fully utilise this momentum and to achieve our Olympic ambitions it is important that the PSA and WSF work together."

Source: www.psaworldtour.com

--- The PSA has also announced that the delayed 2016 Women’s World Squash Championship will take place this April in El Gouna, Egypt. World No.1 Nour El Sherbini, the 21-year-old from Alexandria, will go into the event as defending champion after becoming the youngest person ever to win the championship by defeating Laura Massaro in last year’s title-decider. In the same week, the world’s elite male players will descend on El Gouna to compete for the annual El Gouna International. “It is important that our players do not lose out on the opportunity to compete not only for the sport’s most lucrative title,” said PSA CEO Alex Gough. “The team in El Gouna, led by Amr Mansi, have ensured that the staging of the tournament will go ahead and we look forward to working with them.”

Source: www.psaworldtour.com