Big guns heading for San Fran for NetSuite Open shoot out
By Squash Mad Reporter
Two of the world’s top four ranked squash players – current U.S. Open champion and No. 1 Gregory Gaultier and No. 4 Ramy Ashour – headline the field for the 2014 NetSuite Open Squash Championships (NSO), Event Engine, Inc.
One of only four elite squash championships in the U.S., the NetSuite Open returns for its third year to San Francisco’s South Lawn of Justin Herman Plaza September 24-30.
“Squash fans remember the great five-game NetSuite Open championship match between Gregory and Ramy last year, so I’m thrilled that they’re coming back to compete for the NetSuite Open title once again in San Francisco this season,” said John Nimick, a U.S. Squash Hall of Famer and President of Event Engine, Inc., the tournament producer. “A world class city is worthy of world class field, and this year’s Open certainly has that.”
In addition to Gaultier and Ashour, two other top 10 ranked players will participate in this year’s NSO. Egypt’s Amr Shabana, ranked No. 5, and England’s Peter Barker, ranked No. 8, are seeds three and four, respectively, in the field for the PSA International 70 tournament that boasts 11 of the top 25 players on the current PSA World Rankings. The tournament’s 28-player field represents nine countries and contains a collective six world championships (Ashour – two and Shabana – four).
Two-time World Champion Ashour looks to defend his 2013 NSO title, when he defeated France’s Gaultier 11-4, 7-11, 7-11, 11-3, 11-2 to register his ninth straight tournament victory of that season and extended his unbeaten tour run to 45 matches while Gaultier, the world’s top ranked player and 2012 NSO champion, is coming off winning his second Allam British Open – squash’s most historic tournament – in May.
Julian Illingworth, seven-time USA national Champion and the highest ranked American player in the world for the past eight years, receives the main draw Wild Card spot.
The complete entries with seedings for the NetSuite Open Squash Championships follow:
Seed World Rank, Player, Country
No. 1 Gregory Gaultier (France)
No. 4 Ramy Ashour (Egypt)
No. 5 Amr Shabana (Egypt)
No. 8 Peter Barker (England)
No. 14 Miguel Angel Rodriguez (Colombia)
No. 15 Laurens Jan Anjema (Netherlands)
No. 19 Mathieu Castagnet (France)
No. 20 Cameron Pilley (Australia)
No. 22 Adrian Grant (England)
No. 23 Chris Simpson (England)
No. 24 Alister Walker (Botswana)
No. 58 Julian Illingworth (USA)
The early rounds, comprising two rounds of Qualifying and six matches in the First Round (final 16) of the Main Draw will be played at Stanford University, the Bay Club San Francisco, Olympic Club and University Club. Two first round matches, the Quarterfinals, Semi-Finals and Championship will be played at Justin Herman Plaza.
Some 400 reserved seats are available for the NetSuite Open, ranging in price from $30 to $250. For tickets, draws, schedule and more information, please visit www.netsuiteopensquash.com. Follow the NetSuite Open on Facebook and Twitter.