Top Professionals in Healthiest Sport Compete
in First “Major” Championship of the Season

The #1 healthiest sport played by the world’s best athletes returns to the heart of New York City in early 2004 as the Professional Squash Association’s Tournament of Champions once again brings world-class squash to the spectacular confines of Grand Central Terminal.

The seventh annual week-long celebration of one of the world’s most challenging sports takes place on a portable, see-through squash court February 21-26, 2004 and is expected to attract all of the world’s top male professional players. The Vanderbilt Hall set-up contains a state-of-the-art 20,000 lbs portable glass squash court, gallery seating for 550, and free viewing for the public.

One of the world tour’s “top ten” events, the Tournament of Champions features a 32-player main draw and a 32-player qualification tournament. Expect the competition to be fierce as the perennial top contenders of world squash try to use the first “major” tournament of the season to sort out a new wave of challengers.

Newly crowned world number one Thierry Lincou from France (who reached the final of the 2003 Tournament of Champions) and 2003 World Champion Amr Shabana from Egypt have stolen the limelight, but veteran stars Peter Nicol from England (the defending champion), John White from Scotland and David Palmer from Australia are certain to battle ferociously to reassert their supremacy. And to further ignite the fireworks, Canada’s brash Jonathon Power should make his return to the international stage after fracturing his hand on court late last season.

Complementing the world ranking pro division of the Tournament of Champions this year will be the U.S. Teaching Pro Championships. Open to full-time teachers of the game, the division will feature top Americans and many high quality international players now coaching in the USA.

Other activity during the tournament week includes extensive recreational competition in the Grand Open, a companion city-wide amateur tournament; and recognition of StreetSquash and CitySquash, charitable New York-based, youth oriented after-school programs which blend squash, academics, community service and mentoring.

The 2004 Tournament of Champions is the largest male professional squash tournament in the United States and the leading event of the six city, $210,000 U.S. Pro Squash Tour. Recently rated by Forbes magazine as the #1 healthiest sport based on cardiorespiratory endurance, muscular strength, flexibility, muscular endurance, calories burned and risk of injury, squash was first played in England more than 100 years ago. It is now a popular sport in more than 120 countries.

There are 15 million squash players worldwide and 400,000 in the United States. Squash is contested in all the major international multi-sport regional games and is on the short list of sports applying for inclusion in the Olympics.

Beth Rasin

Ticket information
and session times:
Zerline Goodman 718.488.6262
-or- tocsquash@verizon.net

Program advertising
and media enquiries:
Beth Rasin 212.213.8248

Event and sponsorship info:
John Nimick 617.731.6874.

Grand Central Terminal info:
Dawn Banket 212.340.3406.

Major event sponsors include Bloomberg, Dunlop, Guinness and Melitta One:One.

Associate sponsors include the Ford Plantation and Greenbrier Sporting Club, Grand Hyatt New York and the Campbell Apartment.

The Tournament of Champions is operated by Event Engine, Inc., the largest commercial squash promotional company in the world.

Event Engine, Inc. also produces the U.S. Open in Boston, Canadian Classic in Toronto and British Open in Nottingham, England.