Categories
Ladies, Save the Date!
Category: Tournaments
Don’t miss world squash stars Mohamed Elshorbagy, Gregory Gaultier, Ramy Ashour, Amanda Sobhy, and Sarah-Jane Perry as they compete for another Oracle NetSuite Open title! Legendary Champion Nicol David and French No. 1 and World No. 5 Camille Serme add prestige to the field, while many more stars will enter before the August 7th deadline. This is a PSA World Tour top ten Men’s and Women’s world ranking event set to offer a record $200,000 purse. Tournament dates are September 27 – October 2, 2018 with last 4 days on the all glass Show Court at Embarcadero Plaza overlooking the spectacular San Francisco waterfront.
Click here to purchase tickets!
Squash Zone, the new five court club in Redwood City, joins Bay Club Redwood Shores to host new round of 32 matches for both men and women, while the Olympic Club, University Club and Bay Club San Francisco host all round of 16 matches in San Francisco.
Think you or your kids have a great topspin slam, pull slider, or cornhole toss? Try it out with the best squash pros in the world! The Oracle NetSuite Open’s first-ever FanFest happens Sunday 9/30 at Embarcadero Plaza from 4:30pm-6:30pm in advance of that evening’s quarterfinal matches.
FanFest is free with ticket purchase or can be purchased separately with Standing Room for the 7:00pm evening matches for $20. Foosball, Ping Pong, Cornhole, Bocce, live music and autographs galore. Great for the whole family… Join us!
We recently completed the 2017-2018 squash season and will be celebrating the end of the year with our Annual Dinner at the Tribu Grill, 32208 Dyer Street, Union City CA, 94587 on Saturday the 7th of July at 6 PM. Come join us for food, drinks and celebration of the squash season.
The dinner is free for all NorCal members, and $25 for non-members. The four winning NorCal teams will be celebrated and awarded their hard-earned plaques. We will also present this years MVP with the Concillium MVP Award and announce promising national players in the area and the NorCal Squash player of the year.
The maximum capacity for this dinner is for 150 people and places are available on a first-come-first-serve basis. Please sign up by emailing us at norcaldinner2018@gmail.com to reserve your places. Please provide the names of the member and non-members who will be attending.
We look forward to seeing everyone at the annual dinner.
Best Regards, Waqas Khan
Commissioner East Bay, NorCal Squash
Dear All
Exciting times for us at Squash Zone, we are going to play host to THE most talented squash player in the world……the one and only RAMY ASHOUR!!
Thursday May 3rd is the date for your diaries. At 7.30p.m. Ramy will take to the court against the ‘Colombian Cannonball’ Miguel Angel Rodriguez. Ramy has enjoyed a resurgence in form recently on PSA professional tour while Rodriguez will run, jump and showcase his trademark dives as he deals with the skills from the racket of the dominant Egyptian.
Below are Gold and Silver Package along with general admission ticket prices; we have a limited number available to those of you who would like to get some time on court with these exceptional players. These packages are built around an experience and to help us cover the costs in having these amazing players play in the Bay area:
PACKAGES
Gold Package
$1500
Semi-private session for 20 minutes with Ramy Ashour
2 x front row tickets for the exhibition
2 x back wall bleacher seats
Post match Meet and Greet with both players in VIP area
Momento of framed photo with players
Complimentary food and cocktails in VIP area
Silver Package
$850
Semi-private session for 20 minutes with Miguel Angel Rodriquez
2 x front row bleacher seats
Post match Meet and Greet with both players in VIP area
Momento of framed photo with players
Complimentary food and cocktails in VIP area
General Admission
Early Bird Non-Member Price: $125 (before April 15th).
If you would like to avail of either of the packages above or to purchase a ticket please respond by mail or phone (650 229 9710) and we’ll save you a spot!
Regards
Aisling Blake
Head Coach
Squash Zone
Redwood City CA 94063
The inaugural Squash Zone Open (Silver) was held over this past weekend at the new 5 court facility on Haven Ave in Redwood City. Led by Richard Elliott and his team – Elaine Friedland, Aisling Blake and McGee O’Neil – the newly opened facility welcomed in 103 players from all around the Bay area and beyond – Utah, Pittsburgh and LA included. The caliber of play was high throughout the weekend with many closely fought finals going down to the 5th game decider on the day.
In the Girls U-17 division Portia Pliam beat Ellyn Xu 11-8 in the 5th, and Eena Xu found success in the Girls U-15 division beating Aneesa Mustafa in the final in 4 games. Meanwhile Pliam came up against frequent training partner Sanjana Vissapragada in the Girls U-19 finals eventually losing out 11-8 in the 4th game. In the lower level age a round robin format was played out in the U-11 age group, Rachel Yun was the eventual winner by virtue of winning all her matches followed by Richa Patnam who came in second place. Richa did play in the Girls U-13 and performed well. However the spoils here went to Anushka Anand who came from 2-0 down in the final on the glass court to take the match 11-7 in the 5th against an in form Shriya Viswanathan. Consolation winners in the Girls U-13 and Girls U-15 were Jude Tantawy and Meera Ragagopal respectively – both playing with a tenacity to overcome their opponents in 5 games in their finals.
There were several sibling pairs competing in the draws – Aiden Yun, brother of Rachel, was the consolation winner of the Boys U-11, he had lost out in the 2nd round to eventual finalist Yash Moolchandani who was very happy to be playing on the glass court in his final. Faizaan Mustafa was a little too strong on the day however becoming Boys U-11 winner with a 3 game victory.
Another round robin was at play in the Boys U-13 and again, sibling force at work with Sachith Vissapragada (brother of U-19 winner Sanjana) winning all matches bar one – winner Seraph Yang took the spoils in this age group. Consolation winner Raj Bapat – the number 1 seed – was surprised in the 2nd round by unseeded Vaibhav Turaga who continued his form into the finals coming up against another intruder Ben Chen, who had dispatched Vaibhav’s brother in the quarter finals. Ben took the final in 3 games.
In the Boys U-17 category Roshan Gampala was too strong on the day for Sameer Mustafa who put up a great fight in the final. The Consolation winner was yet another brotherly affair with Bhavesha Sasikumar edging out his brother Bharadwaj in a nail-biting 5 game encounter.
Jack Huang went in as favourite in the Boys U-19 and didn’t disappoint, not dropping a game in the Round Robin. The runner up in this age group Jassem Khan from Pleasanton. Winners and runners up alike put on a great display of sportsmanship, tenacious fair play and resilience throughout the weekend. The Squash Zone team would like to thank all the participants and their parents for transporting them to and fro and hope to welcome you all back for the Summer Gold in June 22-24th.
Categories
HOWE CUP 2016
The California Golden Girls thank the NorCal Squash Association for their support of the two Howe Cup teams who traveled to Stamford CT in November. Along with support by SF Bay Club, registration fees were covered. This substantially defrayed the overall cost for each player. We enjoyed the tough East Coast competition and the warm social activities. Many of us reconnected with squash friends from previous Howe Cups and younger team members reconnected with former college teammates. Everyone was very enthusiastic and looks forward to growing the women’s presence here in California. Thanks again for your generous support and please spread the word for women of all squash levels to join in. This year we sponsored two B teams but our future goal is an A, C and D team as well.
This past weekend Bay Club Santa Clara hosted its 23rd annual squash club championships. The tournament received a record high Bay Club member turnout of 100 players who participated on this fun filled tournament.
During the 2-day event, we witnessed some amazing matches. One of the most memorable matches was in the Women’s 5.0 division between 14 year old Mahnoor Haq and 17 year old Julie Yeung. Both players played at a fast pace with Mahnoor edging past Julie in the 5th game 11-5 to take her first Women’s 5.0 club championship title.
Other notable results were in the Men’s 6.0 with brothers Zephan and Dillon Huang who battled out the Men’s final. Younger brother Dillon played a very controlled game but Zephan showed his years of experience to take the match 3-1 to claim his 2nd Bay Club Santa Clara Men’s 6.0 club championship title.
Many thanks to Farhad Ettehad, AmeriChoice and Remax for generously sponsoring this tournament for the 14th consecutive year.
The Olympic Club women’s squash team played their second annual match against Stanford’s Varsity team on Saturday, February 20. The OC team traveled to Stanford’s campus in Palo Alto for Stanford’s only home match of the year. It was a tough match and the OC team had a loss of 8-1. Pia Trikha won her match in three games at the number five spot. Jesse Pacheco lost her match in four games at the number one slot, and Toby Eyre lost in a close five game match at the number two spot. Stanford has an especially strong team this year and finished 6th in the country at nationals held at Yale this past weekend. We look forward to playing them again next year!
contributed by Lauren Patrizio Xaba, SquashDrive
Norcal Squash Association proudly congratulates our own Berkeley Revanaugh her sister Mary McKee for successfully defending the US National Doubles 40+ Title as a 3peat !!! Her victory is in addition to her previous squash notable success and contribution to our game. Outstanding Play Early in her career, Berkeley was the national junior champion in singles and doubles squash. She then became a four-time All-American and academic All-American at Yale, served twice as captain of the Yale team, won the national intercollegiate title in 1991, and captained Yale’s winning Howe Cup team in 1992. Capping her college career, she won an award as the senior woman athlete who best exemplified the values of Yale. Berkeley’s squash career after Yale has been equally outstanding. She attained a world professional ranking of 27 in singles; won the U.S. national doubles title; has won four national 40+ age-group titles in doubles (now 5); represented the U.S. women’s national team in three world championships as well as the Pam-Am Games (where the team won a silver medal) and three Pam-Am Federation Cups; and played on the championship U.S. team in the 2014 Can-Am Cup. Contributions to the Game of Squash Berkeley’s support of U.S. Squash has included serving on the Board of Directors from 1992-96, and more recently on the Selection Committee and Finance Committee. Since 2011, she has been a volunteer coach at the Stanford Junior Squash Program, which works with players aged 8 to 14. She is also a regular supporter of SquashDrive (a NUSEA after-school program that is dedicated to teaching and coaching children from underserved neighborhoods) and Xtreme Squash (a Stanford program with a similar mission and a focus on community service).
John Lau of the University club provided much of this precious insight and background info. Congrats again to our local Champ Berkeley and her sister for a triumphant victorious defense.
Jay Kim Norcal Squash Association
Pacific Coast Doubles Squash Championships
January 28-31, 2016
Players: It was one of the best Pacific Coast Doubles Squash Championships in recent memory hosted in San Francisco. Over 80 participants entered in 8 competitive classes. For the three days of the tournament, the two courts at the University Club and the one court at the Olympic Club were filled to capacity.
Special thanks to Urban Green Investments for being the sponsor. And thanks to our patrons Bingham, Osborn, and Scarborough, Charlie Maddison, and George Meyer.
A note from our sponsor:
Dear Tournament Participants,
Thanks to all of you for joining us at the Pacific Coast Doubles Squash Tournament. And special thanks to John Lau for his excellent management of the tournament. We bestow the Iron Man award of the tournament on Kevin Jernigan for playing 6 matches on Saturday, and winning the 50s division on Sunday.
Look forward to seeing all of you next year when the 45th playing of the Pacific Coast Doubles Championships will be hosted in Vancouver!
Peter Lynch President, Urban Green Investments
Thanks to the Olympic Club and Squash Pro Jeff Young for the use of their fine court over the weekend which enabled the tournament to offer a full complement of matches for all players.
Kudos to University Club member, Peter Susskind, for organizing the Saturday evening dinner at the Great Eastern Restaurant. By all accounts, the conviviality was high.
The players from San Francisco are grateful particularly to the players from Vancouver, Portland, and Los Angeles (the cities that make up the Pacific Coast Doubles Community) for their commitment to travel and play every year in this historic tournament. It raised the tournament to a very high quality level which produced superb matches for all to enjoy.
San Franciscans will reciprocate, and will be in Vancouver for the 2017 Pacific Coast tourney in force.