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Champion Fiberglass Open 2023 |
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Maspeth Open 2023
Men's Draw
22 - 25 Jun
New York, USA, $6k |
Final
[2] Aqeel Rehman (AUT) bt [1] Tom Walsh (ENG) 3-0: 11-8, 11-7, 11-9
(39m)
Semi-Finals
[1] Tom Walsh (ENG) bt [4] Mohamed Nabil (EGY) 3-2: 11-7, 11-8,
5-11, 6-11, 12-10 (84m)
[2] Aqeel Rehman (AUT) bt [5] Liam Marirson (CAN) 3-1: 11-7, 11-4, 2-11,
11-8 (39m)
Quarter Finals
[1] Tom Walsh (ENG) bt Abhishek Agarwal (IND) 3-1: 11-6, 13-11,
10-12, 11-6 (69m)
[4] Mohamed Nabil (EGY) bt Vinicius Leao Rodrigues (BRA) 3-1: 11-9,
11-9, 2-11, 11-9 (43m)
[5] Liam Marrison (CAN) bt Brett Schille (CAN) 3-1: 8-11, 11-5, 11-2,
11-9 (38m)
[2] Aqeel Rehman (AUT) bt [6] Leo Vargas (MEX) 3-0: 11-9, 11-6, 11-9
(40m)
First Round:
[1] Tom Walsh (ENG) bt Zahir Shah (PAK) 3-0: 11-1, 11-1, 11-4 (24m)
Abhishek Agarwal (IND) bt [8] Babatunde Ajagbe (NGR) 3-2: 11-6, 8-11,
13-15, 11-2, 11-3 (56m)
Vinicius Leao Rodrigues (BRA) bt [7] Ricardo Toscano (GUA) 3-0: 11-5,
11-7, 11-5 (24m)
[4] Mohamed Nabil (EGY) bt [WC] Felipe Pantle (USA) 3-1: 11-4, 11-13,
13-11, 12-10 (45m)
Brett Schille (CAN) bt [3] Connor Turk (CAN) 3-0: 11-5, 11-8, 12-10
(35m)
[6] Liam Marrison (CAN) bt Nicolas Serna (COL) 3-0: 12-10, 11-9, 11-7
(36m)
[6] Leo Vargas (MEX) bt Luis Quisquinay (GUA) 3-0: 11-6, 11-4, 11-6
(31m)
[2] Aqeel Rehman (AUT) bt Muhammad Farhan Hashmi (PAK) 3-2: 9-11, 7-11,
11-5, 11-4, 11-4 (48m) |
Final
Rehman Downs Top Seed Walsh For Title
Aqeel Rehman
Austria’s Aqeel Rehman claimed the Maspeth Squash Open crown on Sunday,
beating top seed Tom Walsh in the final.
The 37-year-old Austrian came into the Challenger 5 level competition as
the No.2 seed, and started his week with a tough five-game contest. He
had to fight from two games down to overcome the challenge of Pakistan’s
Muhammad Ashab Irfan, eventually winning in a deciding fifth game.
Rehman then got the better of Mexico’s Leo Vargas, the tournament’s No.6
seed, in straight games. Canada’s Liam Marrison stood in Rehman’s way in
the semis, but the 37-year-old was able to come through in a quick
four-game contest to move through to the final.
England’s Tom Walsh, the tournament’s top seed, was his opponent in the
final. Rehman won in straight games, taking the victory 11-8, 11-7, 11-9
in under 40 minutes to secure his first title of the season.
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Preview
Maspeth Squash, situated in the steelworks of the area
The Maspeth Squash Open kicks off on Thursday, June 22 in New York City,
and it will be the first of its kind, played outside on a steel court.
The Challenger 5 level men’s event will be the first to be held on the
new steel court in Maspeth, which opened in June 2020, when squash
professionals were unable to train indoors due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
We spoke to Robert Gibralter, one of the main men behind the project, to
get the back story about the court, and how it has led to this point.
“We started looking around the property and engaging staff, students,
and suppliers in conversations in early 2019. Construction materials
were ordered and received in August and September of 2019, and a few
basic pieces for testing were laid out in the fall and winter,” he
explained.
“The company’s business was too robust to assign workers to this
“in-house project.” In March 2020, COVID closed everything down for a
few months. In May 2020, Jeff brought staff back to work on “the steel
court” and it took six weeks to finish.
“Squash construction had seemed to settle into a default mode over the
past few decades. Creativity around building courts with new materials
has always been necessitated by cost constraints in places where the
products of existing suppliers were seen as too expensive.
“Nevertheless, the standards were ASB and CourtTech – industrial
solutions with a known track record – even though cement, plastics, and
other materials have been used in various locations around the world for
many years.
“Basically, we hit our many types of squash balls against walls and
steel sheets and said, “Why not?” And the benefits, advantages, and
opportunities to experiment bloomed.”
Due to the different nature of the court, compared to the usual glass or
traditional plaster courts you normally see, the still court in Maspeth
provides a different experience, but it still plays like a true court.
“It is surrounded by priceless nature and the real world – the skies,
clouds, breezes, butterflies, bees, sounds from surrounding construction
workers, aromas from coffee grinding companies in the area, trees,
flowers, scrap metal artwork, a Hollywood film set, an occasional visit
from raccoons..” Gibralter said.
“It is a different playing experience – like outdoor vs. indoor tennis.
Imagine a clay court on the Amalfi coast? The world is the oyster for
outdoor squash.
The likes of Mohamed ElShorbagy, Saurav Ghosal and Joelle King have all
spent time on the court, along with plenty of other professionals.
Gibralter has asked them all for feedback, with some appreciating the
difference in sound when the ball hits the wall.
Others believes that the court plays truer than most, and that because
the floor is suspended just above the ground, that it is a more
comfortable court to move about on.
All of that will be tested to the max this week, as the Maspeth Steel
Court hosts its first PSA Challenger Tour competition. The Maspeth
Squash Open will begin on Thursday, with England’s Tom Walsh as the top
seed for the Challenger 5 level tournament.
Austria’s Aqeel Rehman, Canada’s Connor Turk and Egypt’s Mohamed Nabil,
the tournament promoter, make up the rest of the top four seeds for this
week’s competition.
Liam Marrison, the second Canadian in action, is joined by Mexico’s Leo
Vargas, Guatemalan Ricardo Toscano and Nigerian No.1 Babatunde Ajagbe in
rounding out the top eight seeds. Felipe Pantle will be the tournament’s
wildcard, and the only American in action in Maspeth this week.
For more information on the event, where available see the
PSA Live Scores page, or follow
on
PSAChallengerTourLivestreams,
Facebook,
Twitter,
Instagram
&
TikTok. Selected
events will also be streamed live on
SQUASHTV.
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