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Tournament of Champions Will Celebrate 20th Anniversary
J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions Will Celebrate 20th Anniversary
of World Class Squash Competition in Grand Central Terminal, January
12 - 19, 2017
July 26, 2016 - New York, NY. The J.P. Morgan Tournament of
Champions (ToC) confirmed today that the PSA World Series
international squash championship will return to Grand Central
Terminal’s Vanderbilt Hall in 2017 from January 12 - 19. “We are so
excited to be celebrating our 20th anniversary of presenting all of
the world’s best squash players in the extraordinary setting of
Grand Central Terminal’s Vanderbilt Hall,” said John Nimick,
President of Squash Engine, Inc., the tournament promoter. “The
grandeur and vitality of Grand Central Terminal as a venue for
competition among the top-ranking players has created an
unparalleled spectator experience for our onsite sell -out crowds,
as well as fans worldwide who follow the action on live
web-streaming (SquashTV) or broadcast TV.”
The four-walled glass court, to be constructed in the five days
prior to first round play, will showcase the competitive intensity
and phenomenal athleticism of 128 of the world’s top squash players.
Fans will be able to catch the action in Grand Central from the
ticketed seats in the stadium, free standing room at the front wall
or on closed circuit TV screens on the west side of Vanderbilt Hall.
In 1995, ToC was one of the first events to be staged in Vanderbilt
Hall when the venue was made available for public use. Then world #1
Jansher Khan of Pakistan defeated Rodney Eyles of Australia to win
his second title and lift the trophy for the first time in Grand
Central Terminal. In the years since, as befits its moniker, all but
two of the titleholders have been world #1 players. The
championship, absent from Grand Central Terminal during its
renovation from 1996-1998, returned to Vanderbilt Hall in 1999. The
ToC is the only sports championship presented annually in Grand
Central Terminal.
In 2016, the ToC generated 704 hours of global coverage, attracting
2.2 million viewers and realizing more than $40 million in media
value for its sponsors and partners. “In the ToC’s two decades in
Grand Central Terminal, the championship has become the players’
favorite place to play, is a must-see event for fans locally and
globally and has become increasingly valuable as a major
international sports property,” said Nimick. “In 2017, the addition
of the Great Northern Food Hall in Vanderbilt Hall will add another
level of hospitality for our onsite fans. We are looking forward to
continuing our tradition of combining one of the world’s great
sports properties with one of NYC’s great community events.”
The J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions is one of eight World Series
events sanctioned by the Professional Squash Association (PSA) and
one of only three to offer equal prize money and draw size for both
men and women. It is the only PSA World Series event to have been
staged in the same venue for two decades.
J.P. Morgan, a global financial services company, is returning for
its ninth year of Platinum title sponsorship. Gold Sponsor Lexington
Partners, the world’s largest independent manager of secondary
private equity and co-investment funds, marks its nineteenth year of
ToC sponsorship.
Tickets range in price from $8 to $170 and will be available for
purchase beginning October 7, 2016 at www.tocsquash.com.
.
Squash is contested in all the major international multi-sport
regional games and has been rated by Forbes magazine as the
healthiest sport based on cardiorespiratory endurance, muscular
strength, flexibility, muscular endurance, calories burned and risk
of injury. The sport was first played in England
more than 140 years ago and is now popular in 185 countries, with
nearly 50,000 squash courts worldwide. There are more than 16
million squash players around the world and 800,000 in the United
States.
For sponsorship/ boxholder information: John Nimick,
sponsorship@tocsquash.com
For media inquiries/ program advertising: Beth Rasin,
media@tocsquash.com |
