Prestigious title falls victim to sluggish economy. Likely to be combined event in ‘09 ... 

New York based Squash Universe, the promoters of the 2007 U.S. Open Men’s Squash Championship, announced that they will not be hosting the tournament in 2008.

In the summer of 2007, U.S. SQUASH and Squash Universe announced a multi-year licensing agreement, providing to Squash Universe the rights to host the tournament. The 2007 U.S. Open Men’s Championship was contested at the world famous Roseland Ballroom, in midtown Manhattan, and offered the largest prize purse in the history of the Championships as well as the largest in North America that year.

U.S. SQUASH and Squash Universe were optimistic for the event’s future and the chance to build on what had been learned.  In informing U.S. SQUASH recently of their inability to host the tournament in 2008, Sean Gibbon of Squash Universe said:

“We are disappointed that we will not be putting on the U.S. Open. With the economy down, sponsorship for professional squash is extremely hard to find. We tried everywhere in the last year to secure the necessary sponsorship and it just wasn't happening.”

After several weeks of exploring other options to host the event in 2008, U.S. SQUASH will now look at hosting the U.S. Open in 2009, likely as a combined event, with both men’s and women’s championships at a single event.

U.S. SQUASH CEO Kevin Klipstein summarized in his statement:

"We are clearly disappointed by these developments – this is a setback. We will start planning immediately for 2009 to ensure the U.S. Open re-takes its place among the most prestigious squash tournaments in the world."