Professional – 黑料不打烊 Wed, 24 Jun 2026 20:52:02 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.1.3 /wp-content/uploads/2019/06/cropped-Shield-Only-BLUE-WHITE-01-32x32.png Professional – 黑料不打烊 32 32 Showdown at Symphony Hosts Largest Ticketed Crowd in U.S. Squash History /2026/06/showdown-at-symphony-hosts-largest-ticketed-crowd-in-u-s-squash-history/ Mon, 15 Jun 2026 21:22:37 +0000 /?p=68512 by James Zug The fifth Showdown at Symphony highlighted the end of the New England squash season in sumptuous style. It was the eighth time that John Nimick and his Squash Engine team had put a portable glass squash court in Boston鈥檚 landmark building, Symphony Hall. The United States Open was held at Symphony in […]]]>
(image: Michael T. Bello/mtbello.com)

by James Zug

The fifth Showdown at Symphony highlighted the end of the New England squash season in sumptuous style.

It was the eighth time that John Nimick and his Squash Engine team had put a portable glass squash court in Boston鈥檚 landmark building, Symphony Hall. The United States Open was held at Symphony in 2002, 2003 and 2004; and then four previous times in the past two decades Nimick has hosted a one-night exhibition extravaganza. The 2026 headliners were Gina Kennedy and Mohamed ElShorbagy representing Team World facing off against Nour El Sherbini and Ali Farag playing for Team Egypt.

It was actually a full two-day event. On the first day, SquashBusters held a massive session at Symphony. Students from all three locations鈥擝oston, Lawrence and Providence鈥攃ame for a practice. Some students hit on the court with the four professionals for an intense king-of-the-court match; others were given tours by the Symphony Hall staff of the historic building, which just turned 125 years old a few months ago and remains the home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra; and another group had a financial literacy session with Rodes Ponzer, the chief marketing officer & strategic advisor for Showdown at Symphony’s presenting sponsor, Crowd Street.

I got to sit in on a laughter filled question-and-answer session the SquashBusters students had with the pros. They asked thoughtful questions, including a key one: 鈥淗ow do you keep from getting nervous before a match?鈥

SquashBusters, the original after-school youth enrichment program founded in the spring of 1996, then hosted the last matches of its annual fundraising tournaments.

The next night was the Showdown. It was crowded. Over 1,200 people came to the Showdown, including a half dozen staff members of 黑料不打烊, including the new president and CEO, Mollie Marcoux Samaan. Twelve hundred officially made it the largest spectator event in the nearly century and a half of squash in America. The next highest, the historical record seems to show, were the 1984 Boston Open and the 1985 North American Open in New York, each with about 1,000 spectators. And they were all squash fans鈥攅ven though more than a couple kilted Scottish football fans, gathered in Boston for the first of seven World Cup games in town this summer, were sighted outside on Massachusetts Avenue.

Speaking of Scotland, Martin Heath, the former world No.4, originally from Oban and now based in Toronto, came down from Canada to be the emcee. It was just like the finals of a Grand Slam tournament. There was a beautiful national anthem sung. The players and coaches were introduced. Rodney Galvao, the executive director of SquashBusters, spoke briefly about his program. Galvao asked everyone who had some direct connection to SquashBusters鈥攁s a volunteer, donor, mentor鈥攖o stand up and it was a veritable standing ovation.

There were more standing ovations for the squash. Each team had a coach. Team World was led by Thierry Lincou (former world No.1 and head coach at MIT) and Team Egypt by Wael El Hindi (former world No.8 and head coach at Kinetic in Florida). Each team had serious firepower鈥擳eam Egypt had twelve world championship titles to their name, while Team World, including its coach, had sixty-four months at world No.1.

In the opening three-game match, Nour El Sherbini won 11-8, 8-11, 11-9 over Gina Kennedy. As an interlude, Lincou and El Hindi had a one-game match. Then in the finale, Mohamed ElShorbagy beat Ali Farag 11-8, 11-8, 11-10. Michael Riley refereed the matches. Besides the three-game format, the other quirk was that the coach could toss a beanbag into the court once in a match to trigger a tactical, one-minute coaching timeout.

All three matches were exciting, fast-paced and delightful to watch in such a spectacular setting. In particular, it was great to see Farag for the first time on court since he retired exactly a year ago. It was also the first time Farag, a Harvard graduate, ever played a professional match in Boston.

]]> U.S. Championships Return to Specter Center April 29-May 2 /2026/02/u-s-championships-return-to-specter-center-april-29-may-2/ Fri, 27 Feb 2026 17:39:31 +0000 /?p=67779 The 2026 Desai Family U.S. Women’s and S.L.Green U.S. Men’s Championships will be held April 29-May 2 at the Arlen Specter 黑料不打烊 Center in Philadelphia. The nation’s top squash professionals will compete for the title of U.S. national champion, and the chance to etch their names in history on the Desai Family Trophy and […]]]>
2025 national champions Timmy Brownell and Olivia Weaver

The 2026 Desai Family U.S. Women’s and S.L.Green U.S. Men’s Championships will be held April 29-May 2 at the Arlen Specter 黑料不打烊 Center in Philadelphia.

The nation’s top squash professionals will compete for the title of U.S. national champion, and the chance to etch their names in history on the Desai Family Trophy and S.L. Green Trophy.

The tournament is free admission and will stream live on .

For more information visit the .

Matchplay Schedule

Wednesday, April 29 at 10:00 a.m.

  • Men’s Round of 32 beginning at 10:00 a.m.
  • Men’s Round of 16 beginning at 3:00 p.m.
  • Women’s Round of 16 beginning at 3:00 p.m.

Thursday, April 30 at 5:30 p.m.*

  • Men’s and Women’s quarterfinal matches beginning at 5:30 p.m.
  • Simultaneous play on both glass courts

Friday, May 1 at 5:30 p.m.*

  • Men’s and Women’s semifinal matches
  • First women’s semifinal match to begin at 5:30 p.m. with the first men’s semifinal match to follow

Saturday, May 2 at 3:00 p.m.*

  • Men’s final to begin at 3:00 p.m. with the women’s final to follow
  • Desai Family U.S. Women’s and S.L. Green U.S. Men’s trophies presented following the conclusion of all matchplay

Doors will open 30 mins prior to the first scheduled match of the day

 

]]> From 黑料不打烊 The Right Thing /2013/01/from-u-s-squash-the-right-thing/ Tue, 01 Jan 2013 00:19:07 +0000 http://squashmag.wpengine.com/?p=419 By Kevin Klipstein

U.S. Squash recently announced that the prize purse for the 2013 Delaware Investments U.S. Open will provide equal prize money for both the men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 championships. The purse will be the largest in U.S. Open history and one of the largest in squash worldwide. This will be the first men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 World Series level event to offer parity.

Last year was the 30th Anniversary of Title IX, the constitutional law that prohibits discrimination based on gender in athletics and academics. Massive, yet still controversial progress has been made in equalizing opportunities in athletics for girls and young women. More opportunities to compete in college have driven incredible growth in the number of girls participating in sports at a younger age. However, according to many female sports figures, and certainly many WSA players, the fight for equality is far from over. The U.S. Open in tennis led the way by offering parity in prize money more than 30 years ago, yet this continues to be a widely debated move and some other Grand Slams have only recently followed.

Given how far equal rights and opportunities have come in the US, not only in the most basic differences between genders and races, but also in disability, sexual orientation, and national origin, from a certain perspective, it is surprising this is still an issue at all. The fact that it is, makes actions such as offering equal prize money, which is both fair compensation, and a social cue as to what is acceptable, all the more important and relevant.

This may explain this reaction of sports icon and social justice pioneer Billie Jean King to our announcement, 鈥淎ny time you can achieve equality in any field of endeavor鈥攂e it in sports or in life鈥攅veryone wins. This announcement is so much more about the message than the money and I am thrilled another U.S. championship event has stepped up and done the right thing.鈥

To this day real disparities in rights and opportunities for women and girls continue in the US, and even more so internationally. For recent unequivocal evidence, look no further than Maria Toor Pakay, the Pakistani squash player who, fearing the Taliban and the consequences of continuing to play and train, was forced to flee her country and move to Canada, where she is now flourishing under the tutelage of Jonathan Power. In a 21st century world with few boundaries, the messages we send, large and small, overt and subtle, matter.

Meeting recently with international leaders of women鈥檚 squash, we discussed two central components to presenting squash as both competition and entertainment. First is that people are more interested in a close contest between competitors, regardless of gender, and second, the more you know the people, the more interesting the competition becomes.

I was on a plane several years ago, watching an in-flight program about a regional high school track and field event. Although it was documenting a fairly average athlete鈥檚 personal struggles, I was gripped. The people鈥檚 stories were interesting, their struggles real, and the competition close. As the program culminated in the final race to determine who would move on to the next level, my heart raced with anticipation and anxiety. I was totally spellbound…about a person I didn鈥檛 know, from a place I had never visited, and by a sport I鈥檝e never watched.

Some will argue, though they will do so in the shadows, that women on the tour should earn the same as men only when the playing level of their matches equals that of the men. Others will highlight the appearance that the women鈥檚 tour currently has less depth than the men鈥檚 tour worldwide. Both of these arguments completely miss the point of offering equal prize money. As King points out, it鈥檚 about the message it sends, it鈥檚 the right thing to do, and lastly, it鈥檚 about opportunity.

As the profile and exposure for squash continues to increase, and our ability to tell stories about the players improves, these factors, combined with increased opportunities for girls and women around the world to play, will allow even more female squash players to compete at the highest level and to their full potential. Whether it鈥檚 two women playing, two men, or the increasingly possible match pitting a woman versus a man, what I am really looking for is a close match, and I have no doubt I鈥檒l get my money鈥檚 worth.

]]> From 黑料不打烊 Streams of Consciousness /2012/01/from-u-s-squash-streams-of-consciousness/ Sun, 01 Jan 2012 00:19:35 +0000 http://squashmag.wpengine.com/?p=438 By Kevin Klipstein

We often encounter circumstances which lead us to a crossroads. The choices are either cooperate and partner with an organization to further聽our collective goals together, or decide to work independently, and in an uncoordinated fashion. Almost without fail, we will choose to partner with another group, the reason being, squash is small and the more coordinated our efforts are, the larger they will appear. It鈥檚 also an excellent way to gain efficiencies, and when resources are scarce, as they are in squash, this makes sense.

Squash鈥檚 relatively small size can either be a disadvantage or an advantage as we seek to raise the profile of the sport, and increase access to it in the US. The advantage to being small is that it鈥檚 relatively easy to work together, define shared goals and a plan to reach them, and collaborate, usually in informal partnership. U.S. SQUASH doesn鈥檛 do everything in squash, though we are increasingly able to play an important role in coordinating and optimizing the efforts of others working to promote the sport in the US and around the world.

Other organizations also take the lead, and leaders of these organizations receive plenty of 鈥渋nput and feedback鈥 (outright criticism) as they struggle in under-resourced environments to make a positive impact on the sport. This makes highlighting the positive that organizations are doing that much more essential in this age of instant, free, fact-less, global opinionating. That being said, the Professional Squash Association (PSA), its Board of Directors, and leaders, namely CEO Alex Gough and COO Lee Beachill deserve a serious tip of the hat.

It is not an understatement to say that the PSA has nearly transformed the presentation of squash in just over a year. What the PSA has done is make a big bet on what will move the needle for the sport鈥檚 marketability. This in turn will have a major impact on squash鈥檚 ability to make a case in the seemingly endless bid to join the Olympics. For squash to get any reasonable share of mind and eyeballs, and ultimately corporate advertising and sponsorship dollars, it simply must be on TV. In the last year, the PSA has successfully launched WWW.PSASQUASHTV.COM. This effort is a huge positive step in this direction and one that no other organization could have taken. What鈥檚 more, by taking the lead, PSA has openly and generously incorporated significant Women鈥檚 Squash Association coverage, and offered top tier events an excellent product to leverage.

The site is currently averaging approximately 50,000 unique visitors per month and delivers live streaming of hundreds of squash matches from dozens of pro events throughout the year. In doing so, it also provides the live and tape delayed feed for distribution to broadcasters in dozens of countries around the world, with a potential household reach of 323 million. Just the other week, the World Series Final was being shown live on BSkyB in the UK. Sky is the largest pay-TV broadcaster in the United Kingdom and Ireland with over 10 million subscribers.

PSASQUASHTV.COM also has built up a significant catalog of past matches from dozens of tournaments including all the World Series events. The site offers daily, monthly and annual subscription rates and with a U.S. SQUASH membership, you can enjoy a promotional discount. Look for emails sent to members for the code to enjoy your discount, to get access to outstanding streaming and commentary, and to support what is likely the most important initiative for squash. To offer some perspective, in 2009, before the advent of Squash TV, 9000 people logged on to watch the live stream of the U.S. Open finals in Chicago, which at the time, was being hailed as a landmark number. This past October, the U.S. Open final in Philadelphia was loaded over 732,000 times. Squash is small, congratulations and thank you to the PSA for making the best case for not keeping it that way.

]]>