What's been happening in the world of squash (13th to 19th of February 2017)

Sweet sixteen for Trinity

“The greatest (squash) show on earth finally gets the exposure it deserves." These are the words of James Zug, one the most famous squash writers/columnists, referring to the Professional Squash Assocuation broadcasting – through its channel SquashTV - the College Squash Association Team Championships playoffs. Before the women in a few days, it was the men's turn to compete for the so-called Potter Cup, last weekend at a packed Murr Centre in Harvard. Trinity, seeded No. 1 in the field, downed the No. 2-seeded Harvard Crimson, 5-4, on their home courts. "To beat these guys here, it's impossible. We did a great job today," said Trinity's iconic coach Paul Assaiante. Finishing the season with a 19-1 record, the Bantams have now won 16 Potter Trophies in the last 19 seasons. It was sophomore Michael Craig from Northern Ireland – bronze medalist in the European Junior Championship in 2015 – who won the clinching match at the No. 4 spot, beating American Timothy Brownell in four games. The Belfast-born was even honored as the CSA Potter Trophy Player of the Championship. "It hasn't really sunk in yet," he said after the match. "I'm overcome with emotion. When you play for something that big, it's hard to control your emotion. It's an unbelievable feeling." (Source: www.bantamsports.com)

The Trinity men's squash team and their staff were ecstatic after clinching their sixteenth national title (Photo credit: www.bantamsports.com)

Going to study in the United States has become a more and more popular choice among the most successful youngsters. If you are ever wondering why such and such player who had a great junior career has not transitioned into the professional world, it's probably because he/she is at a university somewhere in the US at the moment! For example Harvard number 1, Saadeldin Abouaish. The 18-year old from Egypt – World Junior Championship runner-up last August in Poland – took his revenge over India's Kush Kumar, who'd beaten him a few days before during the regular season. In fact, 13 of the 18 players who featured in the final come from outside the United States: Pakistan, Malaysia, South Africa, Belgium, United Kingdom, Netherlands, and even Singapore. Ali Farag - current world number 7 who graduated in 2014 - said in a recent interview that “going to Harvard turned to be the best and most important decision of my life for so many reasons, but mainly because of Mike Way (Harvard's squash coach) who has been my life and squash mentor since then.”

Around the world

--- Camille Serme has ideally prepared for the Windy City Open, whose qualifying draw starts today in Chicago. She held her title in Cleveland ($50,000), in a repeat of last year when she'd already beaten Sarah-Jane Perry in the semis and Alison Waters in the final. It was also kind of a revenge for the Frenchwoman since the two English ladies are the last ones to have won against her on the PSA World Tour! She found herself two games down against Waters but managed to turn the table, taking full advantage of her current momentum (18 wins in 21 matches on the PSA World Tour in 2016-2017). She won 10-12, 9-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-7. “So happy to have won today, she said. It was such a hard battle, Alison and I gave everything on court, mentally and physically!” Seeded 4 in Chicago (the draw was made according to the January rankings), the world number 2 will face Heba El Torky (world #27) in the first round on Thursday. If she wants to meet world number 1 Nour El Sherbini – whom she's beaten in the last two World Series events – or maybe Nicol David (the only top player she's never defeated) in the semis, she probably will have to down players such as Nour El Tayeb and Alison Waters. In the bottom half of the draw, fellow Egyptian Raneem El Welily and Nouran Gohar are due to clash in the semis but Amanda Sobhy, Laura Massaro and Sarah-Jane Perry will be hoping to upset the seedings. In the men's draw, Nick Matthew pulled out because of an ankle injury and as a result Ramy Ashour – who hasn't played since his retirement in the World Championship's final – moved up to seed 4 and therefore could meet Mohamed El Shorbagy in the semis, whom he has not played against for almost a year. If things go according to seedings, the second semifinal will be a repeat of the recent ToC and Swedish Open finals between Karim Abdel Gawad and Grégory Gaultier.

Camille Serme held her title in Cleveland and will come into the Windy City Open full of confidence (Photo credit: Facebook Camille Serme)

--- Remember these names: teenagers Youssef Ibrahim and Mohammad Al Sarraj triumphed in Italy and Sweden last weekend. If Jordan's Al Sarraj won his third tournament since November, Ibrahim clinched his maiden title in Riccione. The pair showed not only talent but also fighting abilities: three of Al Sarraj's four matches went to a decider, including the final against Scotsman Dougie Kempsell, while the 17-year old from Giza came through two gruelling battles with Bernat Jaume and Patrick Rooney before downing seed number 1 Baptiste Masotti in four games in the final.

Maiden title for 17-year old Youssef Ibrahim in Riccione, Italy (Photo credit: www.federsquash.it)

--- England dominated the French Junior Open in Lille, France – clinching eight of the sixteen medals at stake. Including some gold for U15 Amber Copley and Adam Goad, as well as Torrie Malik. The 12-year old girl travelled with her five brothers and sisters who all took part in the tournament. Among them, Sumner, who was playing his first competition since his brain surgery a few weeks before. The story of this 10-year old squash prodigy has led to a substantial wave of solidarity among the squash community. It was an exceptional year for Czech Republic, with four medals including two gold for U17 Viktor Byrtus and U19 David Zeman. The three other winners were recently crowned Irish champion Hannah Craig (U19), Dutch boy Rowan Damming (U13) and Karina Tyma (U17). The Bristol-based is the first ever Polish player to win the FJO. Another significant result was this obtained by U15 British Junior Open Champion Samuel Todd. The 13-year old from England would certainly have been huge favourite to lift the trophy in his age category. Instead he challenged himself in the U17 where he beat seed number 1 Ondrej Vorlicek before losing in five games in the quarters to future runner-up Yannick Wilhelmi (both aged 16).

All the 2017 French Junior Open medalists (Photo credit: www.ffsquash.com)