6/11, 11/8, 5/11, 11/5, 11/9

[5] Ahmed Hamza

03-April, Qualifying Finals:

Jason Delierre bt. Dan Roberts              11/6, 11/7, 11/7
Lekgotla Mosope bt. Graham Bassett     12/10, 11/4, 11/8
Will Newnham bt. Maxym Leclair            15/13, 15/13, 11/2
Hameed Ahmed bt. Bruno Vega             11/3, 11/6, 12/10

03-Apr, Qualifying Round One

Dan Roberts bt Yohay Wakabayashi      11/4, 11/4, 11/5
Lekgotla Mosope bt Edwin Goncharuk    11/5, 11/7, 11/6
Will Newnham bt. Gavin Lee Perrett       11/4, 11/9, 7/11, 11/6
Hameed Ahmed bt Fred Reid                 11/8, 11/5, 11/7

Official site from Rochester

2007 Event     2006 Event     2005 Event

04-Apr, Round One:
Locals go down with a fight
Martin Heath reports

After a successful qualifying day, the three local University of Rochester players put up strong resistance for the seeded players in the first round.

The popular, energetic and highly athletic top seed Patrick Chifunda showed his match experience against "local boy" Hameed Ahmed. Hameed controlled most of the rallies, though the retrieving ability, counter attack and deception of Chifunda proved too much for Hameed to control for the duration of the match, Chifunda pulling through in a tough 3-1 battle.

Will Newnham also put up stern resistance against fourth seeded Fernando Lopez from Mexico. Lopez fits with the Mexican tradition of great basic game, strong movement and a dogged determination, a combination that was to prove too tough for Newnham in the long run. Lopez clinched a close 2-0 lead, and while Newnham fought back to win the third game with some killer dropshots, fell short physically in the fourth game to the searching, moving strategy of the Mexican player.

Jim Bristow came into the tournament as wildcard and with high expectations, though didn't rise to the occasion against third seed Quebecer Michael Reid. Reid used his Power-esque terse technique and attritional strategy to test Bristow's ability to take control. Unfortunately Bristow didn't come with his typical controlled game, and didn't really find his rhythm, not applying enough pressure to break Reid's resolve, Reid coming through to the quarter finals with a relatively straightforward 3-0 victory.

With all eight quarter finalists impressing in their own ways, it seems impossible to predict a winner on Sunday, though there are sure to be some great matches to come ...


  

Heath's career translates into coaching success Rochester Campus Times. Eleven years on a professional tour, six consecutive years ranked in the world's top-10 squash players and a place in the encyclopedia files of Wikipedia render UR squash head coach Martin Heath a little bit different from the rest of UR's athletic faculty...

  
25-Mar-08, Preview:
Chifunda tops Rochester draw
Mithun Mukherjee reports

Patrick Chifunda (ZAM), a Rochester regular ranked #127 is returning this year as the #1 seed. Patrick is a squash professional based in Virginia and has played five out of the last six Rochester Pro events. Westchester based squash pro, Ahmed Hamza (EGY) is another familiar face who will be returning again this year.

Others in the “no-strangers-to-Rochester” category are Andrew McDougall (CAN), Michal Reid (CAN), Fernando Lopez (MEX), Armando Olguin (MEX), Arturo Castillo (MEX) and Joe Millman (ENG).

Besides the strong Canadian and Mexican contingents, there will be a diverse array of young and upcoming squash talent on display from Sri Lanka, Botswana, Spain, Guatemala, Ireland, England, South Africa, Pakistan and Spain.

The new and improved UR squash team also command a strong presence with a wildcard (Jim Bristow) in the main draw and five of the remaining Yellowjackets (Hameed Ahmed, Will Newnham, Fred Reid, Yohay Wakabayashi, Edwin Goncharuk) in the qualifier as locals.

So here is the schedule - come out, support your favorites and if you don’t have any yet, you will by the time this tournament is over. Experience professional level squash right here in Rochester!

And if you want a piece of the action, don’t forget to sign up for the amateur city tournament!