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US
OPEN 2006
November 13
- 16 |
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Shabana & Gaultier To Contest US Open Final
Egypt's world No1 Amr Shabana and
France's Gregory Gaultier will meet
in the final of the US Open at the
Back Bay Events Center in John
Hancock Hall in Boston to
guarantee a new champion of one of the
world's most prestigious squash titles.
While Shabana was expected to overcome his
fast-improving young compatriot Ramy
Ashour, the 11th seed, in the
semi-finals, sixth seed Gaultier had to
battle for more than an hour to upset second
seed David Palmer to claim his maiden
PSA Tour win in six meetings against
the former US Open champion from Australia .
The opening rallies of the second semi-final
were shared until seven-all, when David
Palmer kicked up the pressure to go 10-7
ahead. Gaultier, on the other hand, had
other plans and not only came back to tie
it, but took the game in a tie-break to open
up a one-game lead.
The Australian, runner-up last year, went
9-2 up in the second game, when Gaultier
responded with six unanswered points. But
it was too little, too late, as Palmer
wisely took himself in hand and drew level.
The pair were equally matched until four-all
in the third when the Frenchman zipped ahead
to 9-4, looking to seal Palmer's fate. The
Aussie persevered to make the game
competitive, but went down as Gaultier edged
ahead.
The underdog again led in the fourth 4-1,
but Palmer edged in a few points via several
Gaultier errors and his own well-placed
shots. Gaultier, conversely, was determined
not to be trifled with and responded in
kind, going up 10-5. Palmer finessed two
stunning shots to bring the score to 7-10,
before Gaultier earned his 11-10 (2-0),
8-11, 11-9, 11-7 win - and a date with the
favourite in the final, his fourth on the
PSA Tour this year, and the 18th
of his career.
In the first game of the much-anticipated
match between the two Egyptians, the early
exchanges were evenly-matched. At 10-all,
Shabana won the serve and hoped to finish
off his young compatriot - but a stunning
volley that had the crowd roaring with
delight, followed up with a quick winner,
earned Ashour the first game.
The energetic Ashour, the 19-year-old who
had earlier taken out fourth-seeded
Australian Anthony Ricketts, used
every surface of the court to return
well-placed shots from Shabana. Tied at
five-all, several Ashour errors afforded
Shabana the chance to jump ahead 9-5.
The volley for the tenth point was another
crowd pleaser, ultimately going to Shabana
and setting the tone for the final point and
win for the world number one from Cairo .
After taking the third, Shabana took
advantage of a rare bout of clumsiness by
Ashour, and quickly ran up the score to
8-0. Looking as if the 'magnitude' of his
run for the US Open title might have
compromised his concentration, Ashour
stunned the crowd as he stole an astonishing
nine match points to take the game to
another tie-break.
An amazed audience watched as the Egyptian
'wonder kid' finally succumbed to the world
number one - but not before endearing
himself to a new legion of fans.
Shabana's 10-11 (0-2), 11-5, 11-8, 11-10
(2-0) victory in 56 minutes takes the
27-year-old into his second successive PSA
Tour final – the fifth of the year and the
19th of his career.
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Draw
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Qualifying
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Reports
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Previews
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Gregory Gaultier at last triumphs over fellow
countryman Frenchman Thierry Lincou
Egypt's
Ramy Ashour takes US Open by storm and defeats
Anthony Ricketts seeded 6 in second round upset
Englishman James Willstrop scrambles through first
round against Anjema
World No. 1 Egypt's Amr Shabana is top seed for
the 2006 US open |
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draw
2006 US OPEN SQUASH CHAMPIONSHIPS
|
Round 1 |
Round 2 |
Quarters |
Semis |
Final |
Sunday |
Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
[1] Amr Shabana (Egy)
11/6, 11/7, 11/6 (29m)
[Q] Omar Elborolossy (Egy) |
Amr Shabana
11-6, 7-11, 11-4, 11-9 (42m)
Ong Beng Hee |
Amr Shabana
10-11
(2-4), 11-8, 11-8, 11-4 (59m)
Nick Matthew
|
Amr Shabana
10-11(0-2), 11-5, 11-8, 11-10(2-0) (56m)
Ramy
Ashour |
Amr Shabana
v
Gregory Gaultier
|
[14] Ong Beng Hee (Mas)
11/9, 11/4, 11/7 (38m)
Cameron Pilley (Aus) |
[7] Nick Matthew (Eng)
11/6, 11/5, 11/7 (32m)
[Q] Tom Richards (Eng) |
Nick Matthew
11-2, 11-4, 11-5 (28m)
Olli Tuominen |
[15] Olli Tuominen (Fin)
11/4, 11/6, 11/6 (36m)
[Q] Aaron Franckomb (Aus) |
[4] Anthony Ricketts (Aus)
11/9, 11/9, 8/11, 11/8 (58m)
Mark Chaloner (Eng) |
Anthony Ricketts
7-11, 11-7, 11-9, 11-6 (53m)
Ramy Ashour |
Ramy Ashour
11-5,
11-8, 11-7 (31m)
Graham Ryding |
[11] Ramy Ashour (Egy)
11/9, 11/4, 11/6 (36m)
[Q] Shawn DeLierre (Can) |
[5] James Willstrop (Eng)
9/11, 11/10(3-1), 6/11, 11/9, 11/7 (78m)
Laurens Jan Anjema (Ned) |
James Willstrop
11-10 (2-0), 11-3, 3-0 (28m)
Graham Ryding |
[16] Graham Ryding (Can)
11/4, 11/9, 11/5 (29m)
[Q] Dylan Bennett (Ned) |
[Q] Daryl Selby (Eng)
11/7, 11/10(2-0), 7/11, 7/3 rtd (67m)
[12] Wael El Hindi (Egy) |
Wael El Hindi
11-5, 11-5, 11-4 (41m)
Gregory Gaultier |
Gregory Gaultier
11-5,
11-7, 11-7 (59m)
Thierry Lincou |
Gregory Gaultier
11-10(2-0), 8-11, 11-9, 11-7 (69m)David Palmer
|
Liam Kenny (Irl)
11/5, 11/4, 11/3 (38m)
[6] Gregory Gaultier (Fra) |
Mark Heather (Eng)
11/4, 11/1, 11/5 (26m)
[10] Stewart Boswell (Aus) |
Stewart Boswell
5-11, 11-2, 11-6, 11-6 (57m)
Thierry Lincou |
Jean-Michel Arcucci (Fra)
11/4, 10/11(2-4), 11/9, 11/5 (56m)
[3] Thierry Lincou (Fra) |
[Q] Alister Walker (Eng)
11/8, 11/9, 7/11, 11/8 (83m)
[13] Adrian Grant (Eng) |
Adrian Grant
6-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-10 (2-0) (68m)
Lee Beachill |
Lee Beachill
5-11,
11-5, 11-6, 11-6 (60m)
David Palmer
|
Rafael Alarcon (Bra)
11/4, 11/10(4-2), 11/8 (37m)
[8] Lee Beachill (Eng) |
Hisham Ashour (Egy)
9/11, 7/11, 11/4, 11/4, 11/8 (48m)
[9] John White (Sco) |
John White
11-3, 9-11, 11-6, 11-7 (48m)
David Palmer
|
[Q] Eric Galvez (Mex)
11/9, 11/5, 11/3 (31m)
[2] David Palmer (Aus) |
Qualifying
Qualifying finals:
Alister Walker (ENG) bt Ahmed Maged Hamza (EGY)
11-9, 11-10 (2-0), 11-9
Eric
Galvez (MEX) bt Mark Krajcsak (HUN)
4-11, 11-4, 11-9, 3-11,
11-5
Shawn Delierre (CAN) bt Raj Nanda (AUS)
6-11, 10-11 (0-2), 11-10
(2-0), 11-7, 11-6
Tom
Richards (ENG) bt Basit Ashfaq (PAK)
11-8, 11-6, 11-4
Omar
Elborolossy (EGY) bt Siddharth Suchde (IND)
11-3, 11-9, 8-11, 11-7
Dylan Bennett (NED) bt Tony James (AUS)
11-8, 11-5, 11-6
Aaron Frankcomb (AUS) bt Wade Johnstone (AUS)
11-8, 11-5, 9-11, 11-7
Daryl Selby (ENG) bt Julian Illingworth (USA)
11-9, 11-9, 11-6
1st
qualifying round:
Ahmed
Maged Hamza (EGY) bt Alex Ingham (ENG)
11-4, 6-11, 11-8, 11-5
Mark
Krajcsak (HUN) bt Regardt Schonborn (RSA)
10-11 (2-4), 11-7, 11-7, 11-7
Raj
Nanda (AUS) bt Taiwo Kuti (NGR)
11-7, 11-10
(2-0), 11-3
Tom
Richards (ENG) bt Pat Malloy (USA)
11-3, 11-7, 11-4
Basit
Ashfaq (PAK) bt Preston Quick (USA)
8-11, 11-5, 11-8,
11-10 (2-0)
Omar
Elborolossy (EGY) bt Badr Abdel Aziz (SWE)
11-5, 11-7, 11-7
Siddharth Suchde (IND) bt Bernardo Samper (COL)
11-3, 10-11 (0-2), 11-4, 5-11,
11-8
Tony
James (AUS) bt Lefika Ragontse (BOT)
11-7, 11-9, 11-5
Aaron
Frankcomb (AUS) bt John Fulham (USA)
11-3, 11-3, 11-6
Wade
Johnstone (AUS) bt Benjamin Oliner (USA)
11-2, 11-8, 11-8
Julian
Illingworth (USA) bt Ben Howell (ENG)
11-5, 11-5, 11-3 |
Best
of Boston Dr
Gaultier Celebrates Thierry Triumph – At Last
- In Boston
After seven Gallic battles on the PSA Tour
since December 2004, Gregory Gaultier
finally secured the victory that has hitherto
eluded him when he beat compatriot Thierry
Lincou , France 's most successful squash
player of all-time, in the quarter-finals of
the US Open at the John Hancock Hall
in Boston.
Three of their recent battles went to five
games – with Lincou, the former world No1 and
world champion, needing more than an hour each
time to quash his younger compatriot. After
taking the first game in Boston , Gaultier was
quickly up 5-0 once again, but his formidable
opponent fought back to tie the game, before
Gaultier finessed a few quick points and
Lincou committed a few rare errors, affording
the 23-year-old from Aix-en-Provence to creep
ahead 9-6, and ultimately take the game.
With a 2/0 lead, a confident sixth seed
Gaultier came out strong - but Lincou, the
third seed, kept the game neck-and-neck to
7-7. A tough shot to the calf that will
likely leave a mark on the experienced Lincou
put Gaultier ahead 8-7 – and appeared to be
the straw that broke the proverbial camel's
back! Three quick points later and Gaultier
had finally secured his compatriot's scalp –
and a place in the semi-finals following his
11-5, 11-7, 11-7 victory in 59 minutes.
Gaultier, now ranked five in the world, will
face Australia 's David Palmer for a
place in the final. In a repeat of last
year's final, the Australian beat England's
title-holder Lee Beachill 5-11, 11-5,
11-6, 11-6 in 60 minutes – ending the
Yorkshireman's bid to become the first player
to win the squash title three times in a row.
For World Open champion Palmer, the
victory means a fifth successive semi-final
berth on the PSA Tour.
Egypt's Ramy Ashour continued his
relentless charge through the Boston draw to
claim an unexpected place in the other
semi-final. The 19-year-old 11th
seed from Cairo – who removed Australia 's No4
seed Anthony Ricketts in the previous
round – overcame Canada 's 16th
seed Graham Ryding 11-5, 11-8, 11-7 in
just 31 minutes.
Ashour, who secured a shock place in the last
month's Hong Kong Open final, will
again meet his compatriot Amr Shabana,
the top seed ranked one in the world, in the
Boston semis.
Until the fourth game of the quarter-final
match against Shabana, Nick Matthew's
heart and soul were in terrific form. The
British Open champion from England ,
ranked 7 in the world, was neck-and-neck with
world's top player. Both players were sending
shots deep and digging even further to eke out
each point. At 12-all in the first game,
Matthew earned a tough 13th point,
before a down ball by Shabana gave him the
early advantage.
In game two, Shabana crept up to a 10-8 lead
before Matthew gave up the game-winning shot,
allowing the top-ranked player to tie up the
match. The third game started with Shabana
ahead, but Matthew quickly brought it to 4-all
and stayed in the game, before Shabana matched
him at eight and never looked back. Shabana
took the fourth and final game in a mere six
minutes to secure his 10-11 (2-4), 11-8, 11-8,
11-4 win in 59 minutes.
Ricketts & Willstrop Fall As Ashour & Ryding
Advance In Boston
Egyptian teenager Ramy Ashour and
'veteran' Canadian Graham Ryding pulled
off notable upsets in the second round of the
US Open Squash Championship with defeats
over fourth seed Anthony Ricketts and
fifth seed James Willstrop, respectively,
at the Back Bay Events Center in
Boston.
Ashour, the 19-year-old rising star from Cairo
who leapt from outside the world's top 20 to
inside the top ten in two months, rallied from a
game down to beat Ricketts, the world No6 from
Sydney, 7-11, 11-7, 11-9, 11-6 in 53 minutes.
After taking the first game quickly, the
Australian no doubt felt he had his young
opponent mastered. But Ashour, the record
double world junior champion, raced to an 8-2
lead in the second, before going on to draw
level. Ricketts began playing more true to form
in the third, but Ashour refused to go down
easily.
Ricketts led 7-4, but 11th seed – but
Ashour persevered. Five unanswered points had
the Egyptian up 9-7 before Ricketts brought the
score to 9-10, when a new racquet could have
been a focus breaker However, Ashour went on to
win and take a 2/1 lead in the match.
Up 9-6 in the fourth, Ashour slowed his game
down, as Ricketts was run ragged and ultimately
gave it up for the teenager.
Canada's Graham Ryding - the 16th
seed whom Ashour will now meet - raised North
American hopes when he edged out James Willstrop,
the world No4, in the first game after a
tie-break. But an injury to the Yorkshireman's
hamstring cost him game two and ultimately the
match when he withdrew from the event after 28
minutes with the score standing at 11-10 (2-0),
11-3, 3-0.
England's defending champion Lee Beachill,
the No8 seed, recovered from a game behind to
defeat compatriot Adrian Grant, the 13th
seed, 6-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-10 (2-0) in 68
minutes. In a repeat of last year's final,
Beachill will now face Australia's David
Palmer, the second seed who beat Scotland's
Australian-born John White 11-3, 9-11,
11-6, 11-7.
One of the standout quarter-final confrontations
will be the all-French clash between third seed
Thierry Lincou and sixth seed Gregory
Gaultier – the pair's fourth on the PSA Tour
this year. Gaultier, still looking for his
first Tour victory over his compatriot,
despatched Egypt's 12th seed Wael
El Hindi 11-5, 11-5, 11-4, while Lincou, a
former world No1 and world champion, battled for
57 minutes to quash Australia's Stewart
Boswell, the 10th seed, 5-11,
11-2, 11-6, 11-6.
Ricketts & Willstrop Fall As Ashour & Ryding
Advance In Boston
Egyptian teenager Ramy Ashour and
'veteran' Canadian Graham Ryding pulled
off notable upsets in the second round of the
US Open Squash Championship with defeats
over fourth seed Anthony Ricketts and
fifth seed James Willstrop, respectively,
at the Back Bay Events Center in
Boston.
Ashour, the 19-year-old rising star from Cairo
who leapt from outside the world's top 20 to
inside the top ten in two months, rallied from a
game down to beat Ricketts, the world No6 from
Sydney, 7-11, 11-7, 11-9, 11-6 in 53 minutes.
After taking the first game quickly, the
Australian no doubt felt he had his young
opponent mastered. But Ashour, the record
double world junior champion, raced to an 8-2
lead in the second, before going on to draw
level. Ricketts began playing more true to form
in the third, but Ashour refused to go down
easily.
Ricketts led 7-4, but 11th seed – but
Ashour persevered. Five unanswered points had
the Egyptian up 9-7 before Ricketts brought the
score to 9-10, when a new racquet could have
been a focus breaker However, Ashour went on to
win and take a 2/1 lead in the match.
Up 9-6 in the fourth, Ashour slowed his game
down, as Ricketts was run ragged and ultimately
gave it up for the teenager.
Canada's Graham Ryding - the 16th
seed whom Ashour will now meet - raised North
American hopes when he edged out James
Willstrop, the world No4, in the first game
after a tie-break. But an injury to the
Yorkshireman's hamstring cost him game two and
ultimately the match when he withdrew from the
event after 28 minutes with the score standing
at 11-10 (2-0), 11-3, 3-0.
England's defending champion Lee Beachill,
the No8 seed, recovered from a game behind to
defeat compatriot Adrian Grant, the 13th
seed, 6-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-10 (2-0) in 68
minutes. In a repeat of last year's final,
Beachill will now face Australia's David
Palmer, the second seed who beat Scotland's
Australian-born John White 11-3, 9-11,
11-6, 11-7.
One of the standout quarter-final confrontations
will be the all-French clash between third seed
Thierry Lincou and sixth seed Gregory
Gaultier – the pair's fourth on the PSA Tour
this year. Gaultier, still looking for his
first Tour victory over his compatriot,
despatched Egypt's 12th seed Wael
El Hindi 11-5, 11-5, 11-4, while Lincou, a
former world No1 and world champion, battled for
57 minutes to quash Australia's Stewart
Boswell, the 10th seed, 5-11,
11-2, 11-6, 11-6.
Beachill On Course For Historic US Open
Treble
Englishman Lee Beachill comfortably
overcame his first round opponent in the
US Open Squash Championship in Boston to
keep alive his bid to become the first
player in the modern era to win the
prestigious US title three times in a row.
The 28-year-old Yorkshireman from
Pontefract, seeded eight, beat Brazilian
champion Rafael F Alarcon 11-4, 11-10
(4-2), 11-8 in 37 minutes at Harvard
University’s Murr Center to set up a
second round clash with compatriot
Adrian Grant.
Londoner Grant, the 13th seed who
is based in Yorkshire, survived an 83-minute
marathon against fellow Yorkshire-based
compatriot Alister Walker, a
qualifier, winning 11-8, 11-9, 7-11, 11-8.
British Open
champion Nick Matthew barely broke
sweat in his victory over fellow Englishman
Tom Richards, winning 11-6, 11-5,
11-7 in 32 minutes. Egypt’s Wael El
Hindi not only advanced, but broke the
spirit of English qualifier Daryl Selby.
It was a contentious match from the start,
with the Egyptian securing a place in the
second round when Selby withdrew after 67
minutes with the score standing at 11-7,
11-10 (2-0), 7-11, 7-3.
Canada’s Graham Ryding easily
defeated Dutch qualifier Dylan Bennett.
"I was a little rusty to start, but my
timing was solid by the third game,” said
the 16th seed from Toronto after
his 11-4, 11-9, 11-5 win in 29 minutes.
Ryding goes on to face England's fifth seed
James Willstrop -
who was taken the full distance by
fast-improving Dutchman Laurens Jan
Anjema before winning 9-11, 11-10 (3-1),
6-11, 11-9, 11-7 in 78 minutes.
Egypt's rising star Ramy Ashour made
quick work of Shawn Delierre to
advance to the last sixteen round. The
19-year-old world No9 from Cairo beat the
Canadian qualifier 11-9, 11-4, 11-6 – while
his brother Hisham Mohd Ashour made
John White’s
advancement into the second round anything
but easy.
The elder Ashour took the first two games in
the match against the ninth seed from
Scotland and White answered in kind with two
for himself. The fifth and final game,
though, was a tight one, but White’s
trademark shot-making skills ultimately
earned him the 9-11, 7-11, 11-4, 11-4, 11-8
win and a place in the last sixteen.
A distinguished squash career came to an end
in Boston when England's Mark Chaloner
went down 11-9, 11-9, 8-11, 11-8 to
Australia's No4 seed Anthony Ricketts
in a fiercely-contested 58-minute battle.
Chaloner, 34, from Lincolnshire, achieved a
career-high ranking of 7 in September 2001,
six years after famously winning the
deciding rubber in the final of the Men's
World Team Championships against
Pakistan
in Egypt which gave
England
the title for the first time.
"The reason is mainly due to my body's
refusal to go through with the demands
competitive squash requires, at the speed
which I expect and therefore a certain
amount of frustration occurs. Arrgghh! So it
became crystal clear in my mind on Friday
3rd Nov that it was time to move on," said
Chaloner, who is President of the PSA.
"I don't intend however, just to disappear
off the face of the squash World! I would
like to continue my role on the PSA board,
in whatever capacity that may be with not
being a current player - yet to be
determined - this depends of course if the
players are keen on this!
"It's been a hell of an experience.....I'd
recommend it to anyone, without hesitation,"
Chaloner concluded.
Intriguing National Battles Set Up By US Open
Qualifiers
A trio of intriguing domestic clashes in the
first round of the US Open Squash
Championship have been set up following
the conclusion of the fiercely-contested
qualifying finals of the seventh PSA Super
Series event of the year which will be
staged for the first time at the John
Hancock Hall in Boston.
Omar Elborolossy,
a former world No14 who retired from the
PSA Tour after a first round World Open
exit in December 2004, beat India 's
Harvard-based Siddharth Suchde 11-3,
11-9, 8-11, 11-7 to achieve his first
qualifying success in four PSA events since
August.
But the 31-year-old from Cairo , who rejoined
the PSA in July, was then drawn to face fellow
Egyptian Amr Shabana, the world No1 and
top seed who is also from Cairo . Their last
meeting was exactly three years ago, when
Elborolossy beat his illustrious compatriot in
four games.
England's Tom Richards, a 20-year-old
from Surrey in only his second year on the PSA
Tour, beat Pakistan 's Basit Ashfaq
11-8, 11-6, 11-4 to earn his maiden first
round berth in a Super Series event. But the
world No63's reward is a first-ever meeting
with fellow countryman Nick Matthew,
the No7 seed and reigning British Open
champion.
Another English coupling will take place when
Adrian Grant, the Yorkshire-based 13th
seed from London, takes on qualifier
Alister Walker after the 24-year-old from
Gloucestershire – also based in Yorkshire –
beat Egypt's Ahmed Maged Hamza 11-9,
11-10 (2-0), 11-9 in the qualifying finals.
US National champion Julian Illingworth
was unable to inject home-grown domestic
interest in the first round of the nation's
principal squash championship when he went
down 11-9, 11-9, 11-6 to Englishman Daryl
Selby.
But Canadian Shawn Delierre extended
North American interest in the event when he
fought back from two games down to defeat
Australian Raj Nanda 6-11, 10-11 (0-2),
11-10 (2-0), 11-7, 11-6 in the only five-game
qualifying final.
The 24-year-old from Montreal now lines up to
meet the circuit's hottest new name - Ramy
Ashour, the 19-year-old record
two-times world junior champion from
Egypt who has already leapt into the world's
top ten after reaching the final of last
month's Hong Kong Open.
|
Previews |
World No1 Status & Year-End Super Series Points At
Stake In 2006 US Open
With England's recent British Open champion
Nick Matthew moving up to No7 in the world
rankings - and Egyptian teenager Ramy Ashour
pressing forward an impressive four spots to
No9, playing better than ever and looking to
squeeze by Egypt’s world number one Amr Shabana
- this year’s US Open Squash Championship
could well line up a new world number one.
The prestigious US Open – the seventh PSA Super
Series event of the year, from 12-16 November
- will begin at the Back Bay Events Center
and move onto the stage of the comfortable
1100-seater
John Hancock Hall
in Boston. The new venue, coupled with its PSA-sanctioned
Super Series level designation, has attracted a
top-class field including the top eight players in
the world.
Shabana has reigned supreme for eight months, but
the US Open could easily change that. With the
release of November’s rankings, England's
23-year-old
James Willstrop
returns to No4 and Frenchman Gregory Gaultier,
also 23, leaps two places to his best-ever fifth
place.
Also of interest is Monday night’s potential match
between Ashour and Anthony Ricketts, the
world No6 from Australia - both of whom are
contenders for the eighth and final spot in the
year-end Super Series Finals. With just
three Super Series events left in the season (US
Open, Pakistan Open and Saudi International)
- and Ashour currently ahead by a mere 387 points
- it is truly anyone’s take.
Not to be ignored, veterans David Palmer
(Australia) and
Thierry Lincou
(France), holding steady at No2 and No3
respectively, are also in top form. Palmer, in
particular, is in the hunt, a mere 246 points off
Shabana’s average.
John Nimick,
US Open tournament chairman, says: "The squash
season is cooking. Shabana, an incredible
player, has his work cut out for him, with both
veterans and up-and-comers looking to bump him
from the coveted number one spot. I’m thrilled
that the US Open could well be the starting point
of some big upsets."
You can take the T, but
forget about any other tea…
“Boston Squash Party” set for Nov. 16
All
Attendees to Finals Match Invited to Attend Concert.
BOSTON – November 7, 2006 – Despite who wins, the only
“blues” happening during the finals at the U.S. Open
Squash Championships on Nov. 16 at the Back Bay Events
Center will be coming from James Montgomery himself
and special guest, 14-year-old sax phenom, Grace
Kelly.
The popular artist, still glowing from the rave
reviews for his last album, “Bring it on Home,” will
bring his blend of gutsy blues; direct, gritty
singing; and his command of a wide spray of electric-
and acoustic-harmonica tones to guests of the U.S.
Open’s final session on Nov. 16. All attendees and
MSRA members are welcome at no additional charge.
John Nimick, U.S. Open tournament chairman, explains,
“This is an exciting bonus for both players and
guests. A chance to mingle with the world’s best
squash players and enjoy great music at the same
time...that’s not anarchy...it may be a little
revolutionary offering world-class squash and
first-rate blues music in one night, but that’s the
only similarity to our infamous “Tea Party.”
Whether it's recording with Kid Rock, sitting in with
Gregg Allman or fronting his hot band of over thirty
years, James Montgomery plays with authority. While
growing up in Detroit he learned first-hand from the
masters - James Cotton, John Lee Hooker and Jr. Wells
- at the legendary "Chessmate." In 1970, as a student
at Boston University, he formed the James Montgomery
Blues Band. The band quickly rose to become one of
the hottest acts on the New England music scene. Over
the years, he's carried on in the tradition and
continues to be a vital presence in Blues as one of
the most dynamic performers on the scene.
www.usopensquash.com.
Qualifying matches run from November 10-12; visit the
web site for a compete schedule. Schedule of main
draw matches at John Hancock Hall’s Back Bay Events
Center is as follows:
·Monday, Nov. 13 Noon – 10:00 p.m. Second
Round
(2 separate sessions, noon & 6:00 p.m. starts)
· Tuesday, Nov. 14 6:00 – 10:00 p.m.
Quarterfinals
· Wednesday, Nov. 15 6:00 – 10:00 p.m. Semifinals
·Thursday, Nov. 16 7:00 – 10:00 p.m.
Championship Match |
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CONTACT:
SP Webmaster
Magazine Editor
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