Tickets are still available for the Silicon Valley Open (previously the Oracle Netsuite Open), with matches running from October 11-16 at Squash Zone.
Come watch some of the worlds top players compete in this gold level, PSA World Tour event. The tournament offers $244,000 in player compensation, dispersed equally, and is the 12th largest men’s and women’s prize money event on the 2024-2025 PSA World Tour.
Sign up now for the ON24 Squash Zone Open 2021!
More info: eight-player and sixteen-player draws; players to referee follow on match; three matches guaranteed. Players should be available to play Friday Dec. 10th from 4pm through Sunday Dec. 12th at 1pm; the event may finish Saturday depending on draws.
Dear NorCal Squash players,
After discussion with the league commissioners and pro’s, and following the guidance of USSquash and the CDC we are indefinitely suspending all league play and postponing the playoffs and annual NorCal dinner.
We will continue to evaluate the situation, and if possible reschedule both the remaining league matches and playoffs. We thank you for your understanding, and hope everyone stays healthy.
Emilie van der Hoorn
Chairman, NorCal Squash
The 4-day PSA Bayside Open 2019 wrapped up on Saturday afternoon at Bay Club Redwoods Shores with Head Pro Charlie Johnson winning a marathon 5-game match over Assistant Pro, Lawrence Kuhn, 9-11, 11-7, 11-7, 4-11, 11-7. Together, Johnson and Kuhn took home the lion’s share of the $1,000 total prize money for this professional tournament, sponsored by NorCal Squash and the Bay Club.
Both players had had a long road to the finals and confessed to being sore and tired before their match started. To get to the finals, Charlie had first battled past the skilled Mexican player, Cesar Segundo (currently at the University of Rochester), winning 14-12 in the final game, and then past a strong #2 seed, Cole Becker (currently at Princeton University), in a grueling 3-game match that lasted nearly 45 minutes. Lawrence had his own challenges, overcoming the wily #4 seed, veteran PSA player Armando Olguin, in 4 tough games, before taking on Mustafa Nawar of Egypt, pro at Squash Zone and the tournament’s #1 seed. In that match, Lawrence overcame a 0-2 deficit to battle back and win 3-2 (11-8 in the 5 th).
Still, on Saturday, both finalists were fit and keen to play, and prepared to give it their all, before the packed crowd of appreciative members and guests. A few loyal fans had been coming all week long, and some even brought homemade signs to cheer for the BCRS players.
Lawrence was the first out of the gate, winning the first game with his impressive court speed and deft touch. Charlie rebounded in games 2 and 3 by extending the rallies, and then using both volleys and lobs effectively to change pace and move Lawrence from corner to corner. Despite looking fatigued after the 3 rd game, Lawrence emerged focused and determined in the 4 th game to put pressure on Charlie, forcing him into some early errors. Taking advantage of his momentum, Lawrence continued to stay strong, and Charlie was unable to gain enough traction to come back. Both players emerged sharp for game #5, and the score was tied at 4-4 when Charlie dug deep and came out on top of a several very long points. Though Lawrence was able to respond with a few winners of his own, he could not regain his deficit and Charlie went on to emerge victorious in the final game, 11-7.
We look forward to seeing more of these PSA events in the coming months.
The Bay Club Fremont is proud to present the 2019 Winter Challenge December 20-21, and a Junior Bronze event December 21.
Sign up for the Winter Challenge here, and don’t forget to specify which skill level you would like to enter. There are two matches guaranteed for everyone and food and beverages will be provided. Prizes will be awarded to finalists. This draw is open to everyone, and includes:
MEN’S: 3.0, 4.0, 5.0, 6.0
WOMEN’S: 3.0, 4.0, 5.0, 6.0
Entry deadline on Dec 18th.
All entrants must sign waiver upon entering club.
Please contact Johann Huang at johann.huang@bayclubs.com for any questions about the event.
Are you looking for a good challenge in this event or want to watch a high level match? Long time Fremont Squash member Dillon Huang (second from the left) currently ranked U.S. #1 in BU19, will be back from UPenn to play in this 6.0 event. After the conclusion of the 6.0 finals, Dillon will be doing a short Q & A for the parents and juniors. Hope to see everyone at Fremont Club!
Sign up for the 2019 Bay Club Fremont Bronze Tournament here and don’t forget to specify which age bracket(s) you would like to enter. Players may enter in two brackets and play an age up for practice. Two matches guaranteed for everyone and custom tournament T-shirt and food will be provided. Trophies will be awarded to finalists. Please contact Maha Zein at Maha.zein@bayclubs.com if you have any questions. Regular entry is until Dec. 4th. Parents must sign waiver upon entering club.
This year, NorCal Squash is pleased to announce the NorCal Squash Hall of Fame with the induction of seven founding inductees. These squash players distinguished themselves in many aspects of the game – competitively as well as socially. They made extraordinary contributions to the game through their sportsmanship and integrity, and in helping the game flourish and grow on these shores. The inductees will be honored this year at the Oracle Netsuite finals match, and more information about their incredible squash history can be found here on the virtual Hall of Fame.
Every act big and small helps enrich squash in the Bay Area. To celebrate squash on the west coast NorCal is giving away three sets of VIP tickets for matches on Friday Sept. 27 and Sunday Sept 29. Just leave a comment below describing someones act that enhanced your squash journey, from lending a racket to coaching or organizing events. Winners will be chosen at random at 9am on Wednesday, the 25th of September.
The 2nd Squash Zone Club Championships started off in fine style on Friday evening with all the main ingredients present; squash players and pizza!
Many defending champions showed up in a bid to hold onto their titles and others tried their hand at the next grade up after winning their division last year. Most notable throughout the weekend was the participation of all of our new members; those players that have taken up squash in the past year came out in force, some for their first ever tournament.
With competitors ranging in age from 7 years of age to 70 Squash Zone was a hive of good natured competition throughout the weekend.
The Juniors event was a round robin format with James Yan coming out in a strong first place and Josh Zeitlin taking second. James started playing a year ago and is one to watch for the future!
In the adult sections there were 6 divisions from 3.0 (where Rhonin Faruqi triumphed over Divya Patnam in a 3 game victory in the final) to 5.5 level (where Arav Bhagwati, one of the Bay Area’s strongest juniors edging out Shivin Kumar in 4 games).
Elsewhere in the 3.5s, Chris Evdaimon won a 5 game thriller with Isha Gupta that saw Chris come from 2 games to 1 down before taking it 11-8 in the 5th game.
Meanwhile in the 4.0 division long time sparring partners Eli Abbe and Atul Tiwary faced off in the final, Eli took it in 3 games but not before dealing with 3 tie-breakers.
The 4.5 division was a youthful affair with Humza Rabbani meeting Samira Sankaran in the final, Samira is one of the many juniors at Squash Zone who will go on to play squash in college next year. Humza took the title this time in 4 close games after losing the first.
The penultimate final of the day was contested between Pankaj Srivastava and Peter Thompson – this event fittingly ending with some of our more established players taking to the courts! Pankaj won out in 3 after surviving a 3rd game tie-break.
The final of the 5.5 between Arav and Shivin was watched by an interested crowd fueled by BBQ and refreshments watching high quality squash as inspiration for next year!
The $242,000 Men’s and Women’s Gold PSA World Tour event is expected to attract the world’s best pros to San Francisco, including defending champions Ali Farag (EGY) and Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG). All Quarterfinals, Semifinals and Finals on the glass court at Embarcadero Plaza September 27-30.
NorCal Squash’s annual team tournament wrapped up with some spectacular squash at the Bay Club San Francisco April 19-21. The top teams in four divisions represented the Bay Area from Marin to San Jose and San Francisco to San Ramon. Congratulations to all the players for a great season and making it into the finals. After many hard fought matches the winners were:
Division 1
1st place: the Bay Club Santa Clara, captain Jimmy Li
2nd place: the Olympic Club, captain Kenneth Chan
3rd place: the Bay Club Santa Clara, captain Venkitachalam Gopalakrishnan
Division 2
1st place: the Bay Club Marin, captain Nathaniel Mosse
2nd place: Oakland Tinmen, captain Kim Ben Khoo
3rd place: Divone 2, captain Vivek Ravi 
Division 3
1st place: the Bay Club Santa Clara, captain Mehma Jolly
2nd place: UCSF 3, captain Michael Song
3rd place: the Bay Club Marin, captain Sam Swire 
Division 4
1st place: the Bay Club Santa Clara, captain Rachel Yun
2nd place: Squash Zone 4, captain McGee O’Neil
3rd place: the Bay Club Cupertino, captain Jude Tantawy 
Squash Zone hosted the 2nd edition of the annual Squash Zone Silver on March 29-31st. With a entry list of over 80 and plenty local and out of state interest, juniors converged on the facility in Redwood City for a fun yet competitve weekend of squash supported by NorCal Squash.
BU11: This age group definitely won the hearts of all the spectators, with rackets nearly as tall as themselves 11 kids battled it out for the prize. Gautham Suresh prevailed in a very closely fought 5 game match on the glass court. Suresh held a off a spirited defense from Arjya Saha who came back to level the match from 2 games down but couldn’t quite edge it in the 5th game. A match played with great sportsmanship and skill, truly a joy to watch.
BU13: Two round robins culminated in Abhinav Athreya facing off against Faizaan Mustafa in the final on Sunday morning. Again, as in the Bu11 final, Abinav went 2 games up in the first two games only to see his lead shattered as Faizaan made his way back to a 2-2 tie. In the 5th game Abhinav’s lower error count was the difference on the day and he came away with the Bu13 title.
BU15: Going to form with yet another closely contested final Nachiket Desai of Cupertino had a relatively easy run to the finals only dropping 1 game on the way. Likewise, Nikhil Prasad of Fremont reached the final smoothly winning all his matches 3-0. Prasad, playing in 2 divisions this weekend, did not let tiredness get the better of him and game back from a 2 game to 1 deficit to win 11-9 in the 5th game.
BU17: In the most populated draw of the event 24 players were whittled down to 2 players with number 1 seed Abhimanyu Gupta taking the spoils on the final match of the event. His closest match having been in the semi-finals against Bharadwaj Sasikumar where he won 3-1. In the other half of the draw Vaibhav Turaga of El Dorado Hills pulled out a suprise victory over no. 2 seed Bharadwaj’s brother Bhavesha but couldn’t quite produce the same upset losing out in 3 close games to Gupta.
Gu13: This was a combined division with Gu11 players alongside their older counterparts. Isha Gupta came out victorious with a clean record in the Round Robing winning all 3 of her matches. Eva Chow came in 2nd with her only loss coming against the eventual winner.
Gu17: This was a combined division with Gu15; the quality of play was extremely high with Dina Morsy of Danville and Ashna Tumuluri of Redwood City battling it out in the final. In a closely fought match with an 18-16 scoreline in the 3rd Dina took the trophy coming from a game down to secure a 3-1 win.
Gu19: The two round robins were won by Ellyn Xu and Fatima Abdelrahman who won all their respective matches. In a very close final where all games went down to the wire Fatima was able to nudge out a win in the 4th game tie-break to take the Squash Zone Silver title. Thank you to all those who supported this event (NorCal Squash and the team at Squash Zone). Well done to all competitors involved, it was a great weekend of high quality squash
matches, sportsmanship and camaraderie.