Team USA’s Todd Harrity has been honored with the 2018 United States Olympic Committee Athlete of the Year nomination, and will receive the recognition during the FS Investments U.S. Open Squash Championships in Philadelphia.
Harrity will receive the award on Monday, October 7, during the round of sixteen matches that evening at Drexel University’s Daskalakis Athletic Center. Purchase tickets to Monday’s matches here.
The twenty-eight-year-old had the most successful season for a male U.S. touring professional over the course of 2018. The Wayne, Pennsylvania-native competed in sixteen PSA events over the course of the year, which included two victories in PSA Platinum events–the U.S. Open and Black Ball Open–and winning the PSA World Championship-qualifying Madeira International Open. Last summer, Harrity represented Team USA at the Pan American Championships, earning three bronze medals in the team, doubles and individual competitions. Harrity’s performances over the course of the year propelled him back in to the world’s top fifty-ranked players.
Harrity’s success has continued into 2019, having claimed his third S.L. Green U.S. Men’s Championship title and reached a career high ranking of world No. 44 in March. Harrity will lead Team USA into the Pan American Games this summer in Lima, Peru–his second appearance at the major quadrennial games.
Harrity has been supported by the US Squash Elite Athlete Program since joining the PSA World Tour full-time in 2013 following his graduation from Princeton.
Since 1991, the USOC Athlete of the Year has been US Squash’s highest award for outstanding achievement in international competition. Previous winners include Mark Talbott, Demer Holleran, Louisa Hall, Ivy Pochoda, Michelle Quibell, Gilly Lane, Timmy Brownell, Amanda Sobhy and last year’s honoree Olivia Blatchford Clyne.
The 2019 U.S. Skill Level Championships will be held alongside the FS Investments U.S. Open finals weekend, October 12-13 in Philadelphia. Skill level divisions are available for players of all abilities, and the tournament is a great opportunity to test your game against players from around the country while joining the squash community as it comes together to watch the world’s best players at the U.S. Open.
The host venue—the Kline & Specter Squash Courts at Drexel University—is in the heart of Philadelphia’s University City neighborhood just blocks away from 30th Street Station and near numerous restaurants, museums and hotels including official US Squash partner hotel The Study University City.
Players who placed first or second in any given skill level in a Regional Adult Championships tournament gain free entry to the tournament. All players receive a special 50% off discount code to the U.S. Open semifinals and finals rounds. Support the tournament as a patron to receive upgraded U.S. Open seats and complimentary food and beverage.
All Saturday, October 12, matches will be completed in time for the players to enjoy the U.S. Open finals beginning that evening on the glass court.
All divisions will be capped at sixteen players and are available on a first-come first-served registration basis—register here today to book your spot for the ultimate squash weekend.
2019 FS Investments U.S. Open champions Raneem El Welily and Mohamed ElShorbagy
2019 FS Investments U.S. Open champions Raneem El Welily and Mohamed ElShorbagy
Tickets are now available for the 2019 FS Investments U.S. Open Squash Championships on usopensquash.com/tickets.
The U.S. Open is one of the world’s premier professional squash championships, featuring top players competing for its coveted title. The eight-day Professional Squash Association (PSA) World Tour Platinum event was first held in 1954 and has been hosted at Drexel University since 2011. The event pioneered gender parity in prize money for squash professionals in 2013 and is a leader in the drive for equality in the professional game. In 2019, a record $370,000 prize purse will be on offer.
In 2018, two reigning world champions captured the U.S. Open trophies: Raneem El Welily won her first U.S. Open while Mohamed ElShorbagy brought home his third.
As one of the most iconic and important sporting events held in the city of Philadelphia, the U.S. Open brings together all elements of the squash community through numerous special events celebrating the core values of the sport, including Women in Sports Day, Character in Sports Day, and the U.S. Squash Hall of Fame Induction Luncheon. Three amateur competitions are held concurrently with the U.S. Open: the Arlen Specter Pennsylvania Junior Championships, the U.S. Squash Skill Level Championships and the Intercollegiate Doubles Championships.
US Squash announced today that FS Investments, title sponsor of the 2018 U.S. Open Squash Championships, has committed to serve as the tournament’s title sponsor again in 2019. The U.S. Open brings the world’s best players to Philadelphia to compete for the most prestigious squash championship in the United States.
The event will be held October 5-12, 2019. This is the ninth consecutive year Drexel University’s Daskalakis Athletic Center will host the event.
“We are proud to extend our relationship with FS Investments,” said Kevin Klipstein, US Squash President and CEO. “This sponsorship sustains the U.S. Open’s status as a premier Philadelphia sports event and world-leading squash championship. US Squash and FS Investments share values of access, equality, community and excellence, and through this partnership are providing significant resources to SquashSmarts as they offer academic resources and squash instruction to Philadelphia grade school and high school students from underserved communities.”
“FS Investments is proud to renew its commitment to the U.S. Open Squash Championships, which furthers our efforts to support our city, its institutions and our communities,” said Michael Forman, Chairman and CEO of FS Investments. “This sponsorship brings together organizations with common values, helps drive Philadelphia’s position as a global city and, most importantly, expands resources for Philadelphia youth who participate in the SquashSmarts program.”
This title sponsorship extends beyond the U.S. Open Squash Championships. As part of the agreement, FS Investments also served as title sponsor of the SquashSmarts BestShotBall, the annual charity fundraiser held at The Philadelphia Cricket Club on April 27 to support the award-winning Philadelphia-area urban squash and education program. SquashSmarts has been a U.S. Open partner since 2011 and was recently named the official community program provider for the Arlen Specter US Squash Center.
“FS Investments’ support of the squash community has been and continues to be remarkable,” said Stephen Gregg, SquashSmarts Executive Director. “Their engagement enables us to reach more youth in our city through squash and academic instruction anchored in the values of the game, all with an eye toward using the sport to create life-changing experiences and opportunities.”
The U.S. Open is one of the world’s premier professional squash championships, featuring the top players competing for its coveted title. The eight-day Professional Squash Association (PSA) World Tour Platinum event was first held in 1954 and has been hosted at Drexel University since 2011. The event pioneered gender parity in prize money for squash professionals in 2013 and is a leader in the drive for equality in the professional game. The U.S. Open brings together all elements of the squash community through numerous special events celebrating the core values of the sport, alongside three amateur competitions: the Arlen Specter Pennsylvania Junior Championships, the U.S. Squash Skill Level Championships and the Intercollegiate Doubles Championships. The U.S. Open has become one of the most iconic and important annual sporting events held in the city of Philadelphia.
The dates for next season’s U.S. Open Squash Championships are now confirmed, October 5-12, 2019. The PSA World Tour Platinum tournament will be held at Drexel University’s Daskalakis Athletic Center for the ninth consecutive year.
The best professional squash players from around the world—forty-eight women and forty-eight men—will descend on Philadelphia to compete for the prestigious U.S. Open title and equal prize purses. Alongside the exciting professional action on court, the U.S. Open brings together the entire U.S. squash community for a celebration of the sport with special events like Women in Sports Day alongside amateur competitions including the Arlen Specter Pennsylvania Junior Championships, the Intercollegiate Doubles Championships and US Squash Skill Level Championships.
In 2018 Raneem El Welily won her first U.S. Open while Mohamed El Shorbagy took the men’s title. Other top world stars who have made deep runs in the past but come up short—such as Nour El Sherbini, Tarek Momen, Amanda Sobhy and Simon Rösner—will target capturing their first U.S. Open in 2019.
Tickets for the U.S. Open will go on sale in May 2019. Learn more at www.usopensquash.com.
2018 FS Investments U.S. Open champions Mohamed ElShorbagy and Raneem El Welily return to defend their titles.
2018 FS Investments U.S. Open champions Mohamed ElShorbagy (l) and Raneem El Welily
For the second consecutive year, the FS Investments U.S. Open Squash Championships produced two Egyptian champions as world No. 2 Raneem El Welily upended compatriot and world No. 1 Nour El Sherbini in three games, and Mohamed ElShorbagy staged a five-game comeback against Germany’s Simon Rösner to claim his third title in the past five years at Drexel University’s Daskalakis Athletic Center in Philadelphia.
The women’s final was a rematch of the 2017 World Championship final in December in which El Welily claimed her first career world title. Since that final, the Egyptian teammates had contested four major finals, with El Sherbini taking three out of four titles including the British Open in May and World Series Finals in June.
As both players marked their third final appearance at the U.S. Open, it was El Welily who prevailed in commanding fashion. The twenty-nine-year-old surged to an 11-6 first game, then fired her way back from a 7-9 deficit in the second and 5-7 deficit in the third to claim her first U.S. Open title 11-6, 11-9, 11-8 in thirty-three minutes.
“Nour has had a great week and has played really well and I look forward to many more matches this season,” El Welily said. “I’m sure she will come back fighting and they will be good battles. Hopefully I can get back to world No. 1, it’s my dream and I will continue to fight for it.”
In September of 2015, El Welily became the first Egyptian woman to reach the world No. 1 ranking, which she held for four months. At twenty-two years old, El Sherbini has held the world No. 1 ranking for more than two and a half years. El Welily is now the second Egyptian woman to win the U.S. Open, following Nour El Tayeb last year.
“Last year I made it to the final and couldn’t quite make it to the end,” El Welily said. “I’m very glad that I managed to make it one further this time. The U.S. Open has been one of the one of the titles that I have always loved and a title that I have wanted to win for a long time now.”
A battle between two of the largest players on tour followed on court between ElShorbagy and Rösner. True to the form the German world No. 5 has displayed throughout 2018, Rösner came out firing in the first, pushing the world No. 1 in an 11-8 first-game victory. After ElShorbagy edged the second 11-8, Rösner again mounted a challenge in the third, forcing errors from the world No. 1 and firing off some incredible winners to take the game 11-6 and earn a 2-1 lead.
In the fourth the Egyptian maintain a slight lead throughout the game, earning three game balls and converting on the second to force a fifth game. The fifth game was all ElShorbagy the Rösner’s error count rose for the first time in the match to allow ElShorbagy to pull away from 3-2 to win the match 11-4 after seventy-three minutes.
“I need to give credit to Rösner, he played amazing throughout the whole week,” ElShorbagy said. “I’m pleased we had a fair battle. I’m pleased to win my third U.S. Open title, I lost last year and I was a bit disappointed, but I lost to the better player and had no regrets. This year, I wanted to come and try and do one match better and luckily I was able to do that and it came together this week.”
2018 marked the forty-sixth staging of the U.S. Open Squash Championships and the eighth consecutive year at Drexel University.
At a special luncheon before the finals of the 2018 FS Investments U.S. Open Squash Championships, US Squash inducted Anil Nayar and Carol Thesieres into the United States Squash Hall of Fame.
Kevin Klipstein, the president and CEO of US Squash, welcomed a large crowd of friends, fans and family to the gala luncheon next to the ASB GlassCourt in the Drexel’s Daskalakis Athletic Center. Klipstein spoke about US Squash’s mission of a life-long positive engagement in squash and the organization’s four focus areas: access, community, sportsmanship and excellence.
Mark Pagon, the chair of the board of US Squash, then spoke about the meaning of excellence. “The ancient Greeks talked about the term arête,” he said. “They said that excellence was not only about exceptional performances but also about a performance that illuminated the essence of the activity. That is what our Hall of Famers do—they demonstrate the essence of squash.”
The chair of the U.S. Squash Hall of Fame committee, James Zug, spoke of the many squash luminaries at the luncheon. Members of the Hall of Fame committee in attendance included Sam Howe and Kevin Jernigan. Nine Hall of Famers were at the luncheon: Joyce Davenport (inducted in the class of 2011), Ned Edwards (2003), Ben Heckscher (2017), Maurice Heckscher (2017), Ralph Howe (2002), Sam Howe (2002), Kenton Jernigan (2008), Jay Nelson (2013) and Tom Poor (2012).
A moving video highlighted in pictures the extraordinary careers of Nayar and Thesieres.
Joyce Davenport introduced Thesieres. Davenport noted two facts about Thesieres: she is one of just seven women to captured the career trifecta of U.S. championships—the National Singles, National Doubles and National Mixed—and the only lefthander to have won the National Mixed. She told the story of Thesieres helping lead a women’s team to enter the Philadelphia men’s B league. Thesieres, Davenport said, loved playing on cold courts where her powerful, low drives were particularly effective.
Thesieres thanked her former partners Joyce Davenport, Jane Austin Stauffer and Irma Brogan; her coaches, Norm Bramall who introduced her to the game at the Cynwyd Club, and Al Chassard; and her late husband Terry. She told stories about playing British women at the Pentagon, guiding Australian women around Philadelphia in a snowstorm and hosting a half a dozen players during pro tournaments at the Cynwyd Club. “It’s been a great ride and adventure,” she said.
Michel Schiemann then introduced Anil Nayar. Schiemann was Nayar’s freshman year roommate and squash teammate at Harvard. He talked about their half century of friendship. He noted tough matches at the Naval Academy and later exhibitions in Paris. He also wished Nayar a happy birthday today: the 13th of October was his seventy-second birthday.
“Anil was the most beautiful squash player,” Schiemann said. “He grew up playing in the heat in Mumbai and so never sweated when he was playing on cold hardball courts in America. Not a drop of sweat. It was psychologically devastating to play against him.”
Nayar spoke about his arrival in Cambridge in September 1965 and the warm welcome he received from his squash teammates. He thanked Dinny Adams, the captain of the Harvard team his first year and how Adams, before the finals of the 1969 National Singles, had used shaving cream to spray a simple, effective message for Nayar on a bathroom mirror: “No tins.”
He spoke about Yusuf Khan, his childhood coach in Mumbai. “He taught me to enjoy the process,” Nayar said. Khan died two days ago in Seattle. He also spoke warmly about the late Jack Barnaby, his college coach at Harvard, who always gave insightful advice.
Nayar concluded with a quotation from the Dalai Lama: “Every individual has a responsibility to help guide our global family in the right direction. Good wishes are not sufficient; we must become actively engaged.”
The U.S. Squash Hall of Fame was founded in 2000. Based at Payne Whitney Gymnasium at Yale, it is the only national squash hall of fame in the world with annual inductions and a bricks-and-mortar location. With the additions of the Anil Nayar and Carol Thesieres, there are now sixty-three members of the U.S. Squash Hall of Fame.
The seventeenth-annual World Squash Day was celebrated in style at the 2018 FS Investments U.S. Open Squash Championships.
The finals of the men’s and women’s draws at the United States Open and the U.S. Squash Hall of Fame luncheon and induction ceremony were the centerpieces of an exciting day at Drexel’s Daskalaskis Athletic Center. In light of the global nature of World Squash Day, Raneem El Welily and Mohamed ElShorbagy won the Open and two American players—Anil Nayar, originally from India, and Carol Thesieres, originally from Pennsylvania, were inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Downstairs on the Kline & Specter Courts the 2018 U.S. Skills Levels Championship was in full swing. On World Squash Day 133 matches were played. The Skill Levels features 127 players competed in eleven divisions ranging from 3.0 to 6.0. US Squash introduced the ratings system in the mid-1990s and has hosted the national championship since 1996.
Thus, thousands of people at Drexel had the chance to play squash, reunion with friends courtside and watch world-class squash.
World Squash Day was on the forefront around the U.S. It was a busy day for young players. The largest squash tournament in the history of Texas, a junior gold event with 181 players, is being held this weekend in Houston. In total there are two junior bronzes (in San Diego and Stamford, CT); two junior silvers (in Baltimore and New Jersey); and two junior golds (in Hanover, NH and Houston). In total, 508 kids played at least two matches on World Squash Day.
WSD was originally launched in the aftermath of the September 11th attacks in the U.S. Derek Sword, an avid twenty-nine year old squash player from Scotland who played at the New York Athletic Club, worked as an equity sales analyst on the 89th floor of the South Tower of the World Trade Center. He had just gotten engaged ten days before. To honor him, a group of New York and British friends hosted a memorial match in London in January 2002 which led to the creation of World Squash Day.
Each year since 2002, WSD events have taken place across the globe—exhibitions, clinics, publicity stunts, tournaments—that expose the game to many new people and sustain and deepen a love of the game for those already involved.
The finals day of the 2018 FS Investments U.S. Open Squash Championships will also mark the seventeenth-annual World Squash Day.
WSD was originally launched in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks. Derek Sword, an avid twenty-nine year old squash player from Scotland who played at the New York Athletic Club, worked as an equity sales analyst on the 89th floor of the South Tower of the World Trade Center. He had just gotten engaged ten days before. To honor him, a group of New York and British friends hosted a memorial match in London in January 2002 which led to the creation of World Squash Day.
For 2018 in the U.S., World Squash Day will features events around the country. Highlighting the growth of the game in non-traditional squash regions is the a junior gold-level event in Houston, Texas, with 181 players marking the largest squash tournament in the history of the state. In Philadelphia for the U.S. Open finals, thousands of squash fans will descend on Drexel University to watch the top two women in the world—Nour El Sherbini and Raneem El Welily—will compete for the U.S. Open crown. They will be followed by the men’s final pitting Mohamed ElShorbagy against Simon Rosner.
Each year since 2002, WSD events have taken place across the globe—exhibitions, clinics, publicity stunts, tournaments—that expose the game to many new people and sustain and deepen a love of the game for those already involved.
Germany’s Simon Rösner denied world No. 2 Ali Farag the opportunity to defend his FS Investments U.S. Open title, while the U.S. Open is guaranteed a first-time women’s champion in the form of the world’s top two ranked women—Nour El Sherbini or Raneem El Welily—following Friday’s semifinals in Philadelphia.
The first match of the day staged a rematch of the 2016 women’s final between 2016 champion Camille Serme and world No. 1 El Sherbini. Serme, the French world No. 4, got the best of her Egyptian counterpart in both 2016 and in their most recent meeting—two weeks ago at the China Open.
Serme continued her superb form from her quarterfinal victory over Team USA’s Amanda Sobhy straight into the first game, pushing and forcing errors from the world No. 1 as she clawed back from 9-5 down to take the first game 12-10.
El Sherbini regained control after the first game, leveling in the second 11-6, fighting off game balls to take the third 12-10 and eventually pulling away from 5-all in the fourth to clinch her third career U.S. Open final berth 11-8 after sixty-two minutes.
“It’s always tough to play against Camille,” El Sherbini said. “She’s a very fair player and it’s always hard to beat her. She is back to No. 4 in the world and that shows how good and how tough she is. I’m really glad I won today. It was long rallies and all the games were close, so I’m really happy to be through to the final.”
The U.S. Open is one of the only major PSA World Platinum titles that eludes the Alexandria, Egypt-native, who has topped the world’s rankings for more than two and a half years. El Sherbini previously lost out against Nicol David in the 2014 final and Serme in the 2016 final.
“It would mean a lot to win here,” El Sherbini. “The U.S. Open is one of the biggest tournaments and I would really love to put my name on the trophy. It’s the third final for me and hopefully it is going to be the one. Raneem is the most consistent player on Tour right now and I’m sure it will be a good match.”
El Welily prevailed from a tight encounter with the first Welsh semifinalist in U.S. Open history—world No. 12 Tesni Evans. The tenacious Welshwoman forced the best out of Welily, fighting off stretches of game balls in each game, and even surmounting a sizeable lead to take the second game, but ultimately fell short in four games and sixty-four minutes.
“Tesni played really well and all credit to her for pushing me all the way and fighting,” El Welily said. “She has had an impressive week and is going to fight all this season.”
El Welily and El Sherbini’s last six match ups all collided in finals, with El Welily claiming the 2017 World Championship and 2018 El Gouna International, and El Sherbini claiming the 2017 Hong Kong Open, 2018 PSA Saudi Masters, 2018 British Open and 2018 World Series Finals.
“I will try to think of positive for tomorrow,” El Welily said. “It’s definitely more difficult playing against Nour, she is a very good friend and we play against each other a lot. Playing any Egyptian girl is usually more difficult mentally.”
Like El Sherbini, the U.S. Open title has escaped El Welily’s trophy cabinet having fallen short in the final last year against Nour El Tayeb and in 2012 against Nicol David.
“Winning the U.S. Open title is definitely something I would love to do, but it’s not going to be easy.” El Welily said. “No match is easy, so definitely playing the world No. 1 is not going to be any easier.”
Simon Roesner against Ali Farag
The men’s final will pit two-time champion and world No. 1 Mohamed ElShorbagy against Rösner, who stopped defending champion and world No. 2 Ali Farag in his tracks.
After an impressive five-game quarterfinal victory against Gregory Gaultier, Farag appeared to be en route to setting up a 2017 final rematch by winning the first game against the German 11-4. To the surprise of Farag and the crowd, Rösner turned the match on its head, outplaying the Harvard graduate to reach his first career U.S. Open final 4-11, 11-8, 11-3, 11-6 in fifty-four minutes.
“It’s pretty amazing,” Rösner said. “We are good friends. As always it was a very fair and clean match, and it’s always a pleasure to play him. I’m not sure what happened after the first, I think I got my tactics right and got the ball into the corners. I was able to play my attacking squash and I’m very pleased and relieved with my performance. To beat Ali when he is playing such fantastic squash is something very special.”
2018 has proved to be a banner year for the German who surged to the biggest title of his career at the 2018 J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions in January, which propelled him to a career high-ranking of No. 5 this summer. Off the court, the thirty-year-old got married this summer and is expecting his first child in December.
“It seems like the U.S. is good for me,” Rösner said. “It has a lot to do with how comfortable you are and how the place is treating you. After not making the semis before and now reaching the final it is huge for me. Life is treating me well at the moment, so I just want to continue on that wave and play my best squash in the final tomorrow.”
Rösner has never defeated ElShorbagy in fourteen career matches on the PSA Tour, but will have a fifteenth opportunity on Saturday after ElShorbagy tamed New Zealand’s Paul Coll. Coll, who had powered his way into his first career PSA World Platinum semifinal with an upset over world No. 4 Tarek Momen, started the match on the front foot. Poised with three game balls up 10-7, Coll took a blow to the face that caused a blood injury time out for nearly ten minutes. Coll returned to court and quickly fired off a point to earn the first game 11-7, but that would be the last time the Kiwi would experience positive momentum in the match. The Egyptian returned to court with renewed focus and precision, manipulating Coll around the court on his way to a four-game victory in seventy-eight minutes.
“I’ve reached my fourth U.S. Open final in the last five years,” ElShorbagy said. “I have great memories here, this is the tournament that got me to world No. 1 four years ago and I come back here every year having those great memories. I’m really happy to be back in the final, I lost it here last year and I was disappointed but I lost because my opponent was the better player. I hope I give another good performance tomorrow.”
