|
 Samper
Celebrates US Squash Design Tour Success
The inaugural Squash
Design Tour, comprising seven Professional Squash Association World Tour
events across the United States, ended in triumph at the Betty Griffin
Memorial Florida State Open in Boca Raton this month, when Colombian
Bernardo Samper not only won the event, but also the complete Tour.
The tour showcased the
talent of up-and-coming players in the fast-growing global game of Squash. New
York-based Samper competed in four of the seven events – reaching the final
three times - and convincingly topped the overall Tour standings after his
Florida success.
"I am very excited to win
the first Squash Design circuit," said the Bogota-born 27-year-old. "Bringing
international level squash to the home clubs is exactly what squash needs to do
to create more excitement and awareness of the sport. It was great to see the
squash fans embrace us in every city, no matter how big or small the venue; the
turnout was fantastic.
"Speaking for the players –
we need more match play to earn valuable playing experience and PSA points; a
tour like this supports our growth and development," concluded Samper.
The Squash Design Tour
kicked off with the Madison Open, hosted by the small but vibrant
community at the Madison Squashworks. "To have guys coming from all over the
world to play here is really special," said Damon Bourne, co-owner of
Madison Squash Workshop. "This was the first time we were able to see
world-class squash played right here in Madison. With this event, I hope to
generate more interest in this fast-paced racquet sport."
The Madison Open was a
great tournament for Samper, who only dropped one game throughout the entire
week.
The annual Goshen Open
was held at the house of the Wellingtons, which features a squash court in their
residence. Veteran Australian Mike Corren added another title to his
list, denying Welsh newcomer Peter Creed.
Pittsburgh Squash was
pleased to bring squash back to the Three Rivers City in the Pittsburgh Open.
A highly unusual set of results brought four qualifiers to the quarterfinals.
Joel Hinds completed an impressive run, topping favourite Bernardo Samper
in the final.
The annual Baltimore Cup
was the first of two one-star events in the line up. Amr Swelim took the
Baltimore Country Club title with a very impressive performance in the final in
front of a capacity crowd. This victory looked highly unlikely in the early
rounds as the Italian had faced match balls in his first two rounds!
Rhode Island squash hosted
their annual Rhode Island Open in November. The event featured the
strongest draw of the tour – with US number one Julian Illingworth, the
top seed, winning in a tightly contested match over Swelim.
Following a bye week for
Thanksgiving, the Philadelphia area community welcome the Fairmount Open
- a brand new event to the PSA Tour. Home town favourite and top seed Gilly
Lane topped Mexican Cesar Salazar.
The tour wrapped up with
the Betty Griffin Memorial Florida State Open in Boca Raton, Florida.
Bernardo Samper once again fought his way through to his third final of the
tour. Samper faced his toughest opponent on the tour, Australian Scott
Arnold. His appearance in the final clinched the Squash Design Tour over
Botswana's Lekgotla Mosope by a mere 10 tour points.
"Our wish is to help
increase awareness of Squash by bringing more squash across the United States -
and I think we are off to a good start with this first tour," said Sahel
Anwar, partner in Squash Design and Premier Performance Squash.
"Speaking to the individual event organizers – everyone involved agreed this
first tour was a good start. It is our hope to organize this tour annually –
bringing more squash to more cities.
"We would like to thank all
the individuals who made each of the events possible, all local sponsors, the
PSA – and of course the players and the fans who supported them," added Anwar.
Gus Cook,
PSA Representative for the Americas, provided the final word: "It has been
quite a number of years since the US has seen a tour of this kind and from
everyone that I have spoken to - who include sponsors, promoters, club owners
and players - it has been very well received.
"For a first year effort,
Haseeb and Sahel at Squash Design must be congratulated for their vision to make
it happen and their energy to ensure its success, which has laid the foundation
for the future.
"I can only imagine that
this tour will keep getting bigger and better in the years to come and I look
forward to working with more new squash promoters who are keen to bring world
squash action to their respective clubs and communities.
"Our congratulations to
Bernardo for becoming the inaugural 2009 Squash Design Tour champion and to all
the other great young players who participated, helping to ensure it was such a
success," Cook continued.
"Thank you also to all the
individual promoters who chose to host a PSA event in the first place, and to
their respective sponsors who supported them and made it happen. With any
event, there is usually another valuable group of behind-the-scenes volunteers
who pick up, run about, and house the pro players, provide assistance and
generally help with anything else whenever asked. Thank you also for all that
you do."
2009 Squash Design
Tour final top 15 standings:
1 Bernardo Samper
(Colombia) 165 points
2 Lekgotla Mosope
(Botswana) 155
3 Wade Johnstone
(Australia) 120
4 Peter Creed
(Wales) 110
5= Fernando Lopez
(Mexico) 100
5= Amr Swelim
(Italy) 100
7= Patrick Chifunda
(Zambia) 95
7= Elvinn Keo
(Malaysia) 95
7= Scott Arnold
(Australia) 95
10= Muhd Asyraf Azan
(Malaysia) 90
10= Ivan Yuen
(Malaysia) 90
10= Gilly Lane
(USA) 90
13= Mohammed Abbas
(Egypt) 80
13= Joel Hinds
(England) 80
13= Cesar Salazar
(Mexico) 80 | 
