All posts by Alan Thatcher

Nine days of action at Grand Central Terminal in New York City By SEAN REUTHE  The 2019 J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions returns to Grand Central Terminal for the 22nd consecutive year as the second richest event on the PSA World Tour with a combined purse of $360,000 — the highest prize money in tournament [...]

Aussie pro turns to coaching but still loves the challenge of playing rising stars Interview by ALAN THATCHER – Squash Mad Editor Australian Steve Finitsis is enjoying his “retirement” from the PSA World Tour, heading back home to the northern outpost of Cairns to rejoin family, friends and team up with his old squash coach. [...]

World-class squash heads back to Cairo By SEAN REUTHE Cairo will host a major PSA Tour event for the first time in over two years next month when World No.1 Mohamed ElShorbagy tops the inaugural Black Ball Open draw between December 3-9 at the Black Ball Sporting Club. The Black Ball Open, which will offer [...]

Experience triumphs over youth at Wimbledon  By PHIL RUSHWORTH – Squash Mad Correspondent It was a tale of experience vs youth in this year’s finals of the Wimbledon Cup. In the women’s final, world No. 11 Alison Waters was going for her third successive title, up against 21-year-old Kace Bartley. While in the men’s match, [...]

Five hub clubs provide ‘world-class environments for players’  By ALAN THATCHER – Squash Mad Editor England Squash have chosen five leading clubs to act as “performance hubs” to help develop the next generation of world-class players. The five clubs are West Warwickshire Sports Club, Hallamshire Tennis and Squash Club, Berkhamsted Tennis and Squash Club, Pontefract [...]

Handful of tickets left for 2019 By ALAN THATCHER – Squash Mad Editor The best-of-three games scoring format will be trialled for a second successive year at the Citigold Wealth Management Canary Wharf Squash Classic in 2019 when the PSA World Tour Gold tournament returns to the superb East Wintergarden venue from March 10-15. The [...]

Welsh wonder rises to No.9 in world rankings By SEAN REUTHE – Squash Mad Correspondent Rhyl-based Tesni Evans has become the first Welsh woman ever to break into the world’s top 10 after the November PSA Women’s World Rankings were released. Evans made history last month in Philadelphia as she became the first Welsh player [...]

‘Hard work got me here and more hard work will get me to the top 10’ By SEAN REUTHE and ALAN THATCHER Nottingham-based Declan James has moved up four places to World No.16 to become England’s No.1 male player in the PSA Men’s World Rankings for November. After beating James Willstrop to win the final [...]

Coaches rename their job as “child-minding operatives” By ALAN THATCHER – Squash Mad New Brands Editor Squash coaching took a massive leap into the future by redefining the value of care given by coaches to the children in their charge. Bribing kids to do their homework is an art perfected by parents down the centuries. [...]

Champions crowned on enthralling finals day By DONNA HELMER in Nottingham The third and final day of the Dunlop British Junior Championships 2018 saw 10 players crowned across seven English counties as the junior tournament in Nottingham drew to a close for another year. Winning performances from Scotland’s Georgia Adderley and Ireland’s Denis Gilevskiy also [...]

‘Qatar has hosted some incredible matches down the years’ By ALAN THATCHER The Professional Squash Association (PSA) has announced that the 2019-20 PSA Men’s World Championship will take place in Doha, Qatar between October 31 and November 8, 2019. The PSA World Championship is the most prestigious and lucrative tournament on the PSA Tour calendar, [...]

Nick Wall and Sam Todd aim for Yorkshire double By LUKE McFARLAND in Nottingham Alice Green took a step closer to securing her third British Junior Championship title as the Essex player stormed into the final of the Girls Under-19 tournament, where she will face Scotland’s Georgia Adderley. The showdown will be a repeat of [...]

Event moves to Nottingham in February By DONNA HELMER England Squash is delighted to announce AJ Bell as the title sponsor for the 2019 British National Squash Championships to be staged in Nottingham from 12 -17 February 2019. The agreement sees AJ Bell increase its presence in the sport having previously sponsored the 2013 and [...]

‘I have reached six finals in six years; I always feel at home on that court’  By SEAN REUTHE  World No.1 Mohamed ElShorbagy is relishing the prospect of defending his Qatar Classic title between October 27 – November 2 and says that he feels at home at the Khalifa International Tennis & Squash Complex after [...]

Nour hits the Heights in Casino Classic By LINDA ELRIANI – Squash Mad Correspondent in Brooklyn Nour El Tayeb added the Carol Weymuller Open to her trophy cabinet after a titanic tussle with England’s Sarah-Jane Perry at the Heights Casino club in Brooklyn, New York. El Tayeb’s incredible range of skills saw her triumph 11-8, [...]