WSA event grows to $60k Gold level prize fund
By HOWARD HARDING – Squash Mad Correspondent
Promoters of the J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions have confirmed that the 2015 Women’s Squash Association WSA Gold event will be boosted by a 20% prize-fund rise.
The world’s largest squash spectator event and annually one of the world’s major squash championships will take place at Grand Central Terminal in New York from January 16-23, 2015.
“As we celebrate 18 years of hosting the J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions in Grand Central Terminal, I am delighted to announce that we are increasing the prize money for the men’s and women’s draws,” said John Nimick, President of Event Engine, Inc., the tournament promoter.
“All the very best players compete here – they love the spectacular Grand Central venue, the New York energy and the world’s most knowledgeable, and vocal, spectators. The players always give us their very best – and we are proud to reward their skill and dedication by increasing the prize money.”
The J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions is the only sports championship hosted annually in Grand Central Terminal and playing on the four-walled glass court under the Terminal’s spectacular chandeliers is the dream of every professional squash player.
The 2015 tournament is a men’s Professional Squash Association (PSA) World Series event and a Women’s Squash Association (WSA) sanctioned Gold Tour event..
The $60,000 WSA Gold event is expected to draw the world’s top players, led by defending champion Nicol David, the Malaysian superstar who has just celebrated 100 consecutive months at the top of the WSA world rankings – a period in excess of eight years!
J.P Morgan, a global financial services company, has committed to a three-year sponsorship renewal and is returning as the Platinum title sponsor of the tournament for the seventh year.
The combination of the perennial sold-out stadium seating and the public viewing available on the front wall by what is expected to be more than 200,000 Grand Central commuters during tournament week makes the J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions the largest squash spectator event in the world. Tickets range in price from $8 to $170 and may be purchased at www.tocsquash.com
The championship debuted as the US Professional Championship in 1930 and was renamed the Tournament of Champions in 1992 when it was presented in the third of its five years at the Winter Garden in the World Financial Center.
The tournament moved to Grand Central Terminal in 1995, where its annual presence since has been interrupted only by the Terminal’s renovation from 1996 -1998. The Tournament of Champions has truly lived up to its name – all but two of the titleholders have either been No.1 in the world rankings or a world champion.
For all the latest WSA Tour news: wsaworldtour.com
Â
Picture s courtesy of www.tocsquash.com