|
|
Tournament of
Champions 2009
20-29 Jan, Grand Central Terminus, New York |
31-Dec-08:
Double Champion Shabana Heads
Tournament of Champions Draw
The draw for the JP Morgan Tournament of Champions, the world’s
largest spectator squash event, is announced today, and features 23
of the top world’s top 25 players.
The championship draw includes two previous title-holders; four
players who have been ranked No1 in the world; and competitors
representing 12 countries. An additional eight players will be added
to the 32 player main draw at the conclusion of the qualifying
tournament to be played between 21-22 January.
Headlining the championships are the world’s top three ranking
players, all from Egypt: two-time ToC title-holder Amr Shabana,
who has been ranked No1 in the world for all but three months in the
past three years; 21-year-old defending champion Ramy Ashour
who is also the 2008 World Open champion; and recent rising star
Karim Darwish, who will take the No1 spot in the rankings on
January 1 - up from No8 just one year ago.
Rounding out the top six are Gregory Gaultier of France,
Englishman James Willstrop and Australian David Palmer,
the four-time British Open champion now residing in Boston.
John White, head coach of the Franklin & Marshall College
squash team and a former world No1, will also compete - as will wild
card entry Julian Illingworth, the USA's best-ever
international touring pro currently ranked 40 in the world.
Champions’ Night on Friday 23 January will feature the opening round
matches of defending champion Ashour, two-time ToC title-holder
Shabana and US champion Illingworth.
|
|
 Tournament
of Champions
2006
Grand Central Terminus, New York,
$75k |
Round
One
Jan 23/24 |
Round Two
Jan 25/26 |
Quarters
Jan 27 |
Semis
Jan 28 |
Final
Jan 29 |
[1] Amr
Shabana (Egy)
Qualifier |
|
|
|
|
[10] Nick
Matthew (Eng)
Stewart Boswell (Aus) |
[5] James
Willstrop (Eng)
Olli Tuominen (Fin) |
|
[15] John
White (Sco)
Qualifier |
[3] Ramy
Ashour (Egy)
Cameron Pilley (Aus) |
|
|
[16]
Laurens Jan Anjema (Ned)
Qualifier |
[7]
Thierry Lincou (Fra)
Julian Illingworth (Usa) |
|
[9] Peter
Barker (Eng)
Miguel Angel Rodriguez (Col) |
Qualifier
[12] Ong Beng Hee (Mas) |
|
|
|
Qualifier
[6] David Palmer (Aus) |
Alister
Walker (Eng)
[14] Borja Golan (Esp) |
|
Qualifier
[4] Gregory Gaultier (Fra) |
Qualifier
[13] Azlan Iskandar (Mas) |
|
|
Hisham
Ashour (Egy)
[8] Wael El Hindi (Egy) |
Qualifier
[11] Adrian Grant (Eng) |
|
Shahier
Razik (Can)
[2] Karim Darwish (Egy) |
World’s Top 16 On Board For JP Morgan Tournament of Champions
The world’s best squash players will once again transform Grand
Central Terminal in New York into a spectacular sports arena when
the JP Morgan Tournament of Champions gets underway from 23-29
January 2009. Headlining the list of squash stars who will be
competing on the glittering four-walled glass court in Vanderbilt
Hall will be defending champion Ramy Ashour, the 21-year-old
Egyptian currently ranked three in the world rankings, who won the
World Open title in September to add to his two Junior World
Championships.
“The Tournament of Champions is one of the biggest and brightest
tournaments on the PSA Tour calendar,” says Ashour. “I do wait for
this tournament every year with excitement. I always feel
comfortable and relaxed when I play in New York, perhaps because of
the very knowledgeable and respectful crowd. It gives me the feeling
that I am in the right place for squash.”
Ashour will be joined in the PSA Super Series Gold championship by
three countrymen: 2007 titleholder Amr Shabana, the gifted and
charismatic shot-maker who has held the No1 spot in the world
rankings for the past 33 months; recent rising star Karim Darwish,
who has risen to No2 in the world rankings, up from No8 one year
ago; and eighth-ranked Wael El Hindi, a New York fan favourite.
Gregory Gaultier of France and England’s James Willstrop round out
the top five.
“The JP Morgan Tournament of Champions reflects the global reach of
squash with eight countries and four continents represented just
among the top 16 players,” said John Nimick, tournament director and
president of Squash Engine, Inc. It is expected that 20 countries
will be represented in Grand Central’s only annual sports event as
the 16 additional main draw entries and the 32 players vying for the
eight qualifying spots are added to the draw. The US will be
represented in the main draw by Julian Illingworth, the USA's
best-ever international touring pro currently ranked 40 in the
world, who will be given a wild card entry.
|
Four Junior champions will also be
crowned this year as the inaugural ToC Junior Open will be contested
at the just-opened SL Green StreetSquash Center. The eight court
facility and educational center in Harlem is the new home of
tournament charity StreetSquash, an urban youth enrichment program.
The four draws will feature Girls and Boys Under-17 and Under-15
players. “The ToC Junior Open is the logical extension of the J.P.
Morgan Tournament of Champions during what has become known as
squash week in New York City,” Nimick said. The Grand Open, a
companion citywide tournament run by the Metropolitan Squash
Racquets Association, is expected to draw 150 adult players. |
Tournament Of Champions Boasts
New Sponsor & Increased Prize Fund |
|
J.P. Morgan, a
global financial services company, is the new title sponsor of the
Tournament of Champions, the USA’s largest professional
squash event. The J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions will
be played from 23-29 January 2009 in Grand Central Terminal
in New York.
“With J.P.Morgan as our title sponsor
and a 50% increase in prize money, the Tournament of Champions
continues its long tradition as one of the world’s premier squash
championships,” announced John Nimick, Tournament Director
and President of Event Engine, Inc. “We’re very fortunate to have
J.P. Morgan continue the sponsorship Bear Stearns spearheaded for
the past five years.”
Now in its 12th year as Grand Central’s
only annual sporting event, the J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions
will once again showcase the speed, skill and fitness of the world’s
best squash players in the sport’s most exciting venue.
“The four walled glass court in Grand
Central Terminal provides a venue like no other on the PSA Tour,”
says Nimick. “The combination of the perennial sold-out stadium
seating and the public viewing available on the front wall by what
is expected to be 150,000 Grand Central commuters during tournament
week makes the J.P.Morgan Tournament of Champions the largest squash
spectator event in the world.”
With
J.P. Morgan as the title sponsor and the addition of four new silver
sponsors - American Express, Lexington Partners, Frank Crystal &
Company and MarketAxess - prize money for the 2009 men’s
championship will increase to $115,000 USD. Individual tickets go
on sale October 10.
Patron packages are available now by contacting the Box Office at
+1.718.569.0594.
The championship debuted as the US
Professional Championship in 1930 and was renamed the Tournament of
Champions in 1993 when it was presented in the third of its four
years at the Winter Garden in the World Financial Center. The
tournament then 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 #1 in the world rankings or the winner of the annual World Open
championship, the most prestigious tournament in squash.
A PSA Super Series Gold event
for the men, the 2009 J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions features a
32-player main draw and a 32-player qualification tournament. The
world’s best players from more than 20 countries will compete in the
Tournament of Champions and the field will include the USA's
best-ever international touring pro Julian Illingworth,
current world #37. The Vanderbilt Hall championship presentation
will have gallery seating for 500, as well as free viewing for the
public.
Shortlisted by the International
Olympic Committee for consideration as an Olympic sport beginning in
2016, Squash is contested in all the major international multi-sport
regional games and has been rated by Forbes magazine as the
#1 healthiest sport based on cardiorespiratory endurance,
muscular strength, flexibility, muscular endurance, calories burned
and risk of injury. The sport was first played in England more than
100 years ago and is now popular in more than 120 countries. There
are 15 million squash players worldwide and 400,000 in the United
States.
The J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions is
supported by Dunlop and Big Brothers Big Sisters of NYC
and its official charities are the urban youth enrichment programs
StreetSquash and CitySquash. The J.P. Morgan
Tournament of Champions is operated by Squash Engine, Inc. an
affiliate of long-time management company Event Engine, Inc., the
largest commercial squash promotional company in the world.
Event Engine, Inc. also produces major squash championships in
Toronto and Boston, as well as unique charitable events such as
METROSquash with Sue at the Field Museum in Chicago.
|
2008 Event |
|
|
|
