As our squash facilities begin to re-open NorCal Squash would like feedback about your squash experience. We want to hear how we can better support you, grow the sport locally, and increase awareness and accessibility. Please take this short survey to help us serve you and the greater Northern California squash community.
Please note that club status can change on a daily basis
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.
Bay Area squash fans look forward to fall, when the Oracle NetSuite Pro Squash
Tournament brings some of the world’s best players to town. But September, it turns out,
isn’t the only month when Bay Area residents get to see professional squash players in
action.
Just last month, NorCal Squash helped sponsor the Redwood Shores Open 2019, a PSA
Closed Satellite ($1K) tournament that took place at the Bay Club Redwood Shores. From
March 21-23, Bay Club members and guests enjoyed some riveting matches, featuring a
mix of foreign players as well as top local men and juniors. Out of a highly competitive
draw of 16 players, it was two local pros who emerged for the Saturday afternoon finals,
Mustafa Nawar (of Squash Zone) and Charlie Johnson (of BCRS). In front of a capacity
crowd packed behind court #4 (set up with the 17” tin that the pros use), Johnson survived
a tightly contested 4 games to take the winner’s purse of $400.
Quarter-final play on Friday delivered some great action: Nawar defeated a tenacious
Talbott in a very entertaining match; Becker squeezed past an incredibly steady Z. Huang,
and Johnson beat the hard-hitting Abualela in 3 very competitive games.
But the game of the day belonged to Marwan Mahmoud vs. Chris Fuller. Fuller, a PSA
stalwart who has been ranked as high as #86 in the world, delivered textbook English-style
play (rails, lobs, patience!) against the aggressive play and shot-making of the Egyptian.
Mahmoud took the first game comfortably, but Fuller battled back, steadily grinding down
Mahmoud and frustrating him to win the next 2 games and go up 2-1. But the Egyptian was
not done; after conferring with Nawar and Abualela between games, he roared back to win the 4th and take the match to a 5th . Tied at 2-2 in that decisive game, Mahmoud went on a
run to get to 6-2. Strong play by Fuller erased a few points but Mahmoud surged ahead to a
10-5 lead. Fuller battled back to 8-10 but Mahmoud won the decisive last rally – a standing
ovation followed, for what was easily one of the best matches of the tournament.
Mahmoud would need all the rest he could, as his Saturday’s semi-finals against fellow
Egyptian Nawar was equally epic. In a match that lasted over one hour, the two former
training partners from Alexandria, Egypt, battled it out with pace, deception, and exquisite
ball-control. The final score: Nawar eked out the win 10-12, 12-10, 11-13, 11-8, and 11-9,
before a very appreciative audience. Saturday’s second semi-final pitted Cole Becker
against his former coach Johnson in a re-match of their November PSA finals at Squash
Zone (in which Johnson was injured) – this time Johnson prevailed 3-1 as he fired on all
cylinders in front of the home-club crowd. Reffing official Aisling Blake lent a professional
atmosphere to the day’s matches.
The finals between Nawar and Johnson was another brilliant contrast of styles, between
the soft touch and deft movement of the Egyptian and the steady play and relentless
volleying of Johnson. After a close first game that Johnson won 11-9, Nawar dropped the 2nd
11-4, making a number of uncharacteristic errors that may have been caused by fatigue
from his earlier 5-setter. But Nawar battled back impressively to take the 3 rd game, 11-9. In
the 4 th , both players appeared tired, and the points shorter. Finally, it was Johnson’s
retrieving skills that helped him overcome the fine shot-making of Nawar, as he went on to
take that last game, 11-6, and win the match.
Afterwards, Johnson commented on the role of the spectators in his win: “It is extra special
to play in front of of a home crowd – I tend to play my best squash when I’m at home and I
felt that today. It also gives me a chance to showcase what I teach every day to my students,
which was great since many of them were there watching.”
Tournament director Louise Ober praised the high caliber of squash throughout the
weekend: “It’s truly amazing that we had players as talented as Chris Fuller coming to our
Closed Satellite, as well up and coming Egyptian pros like Marwan and Ahmed, who will
clearly not stay long at the bottom of the PSA ranking charts. I’m sorry this tournament
can’t reward these players with more [PSA] points for their efforts, but it made for some
spectacular squash for the members, who are quite sophisticated in their appreciation of
the nuances of the game. It’s also great for our junior players to see young pros at this level,
as they consider playing squash in college and beyond. Seeing the support and enthusiasm
we had over the weekend, it would be great to do a $5K next time around. We have such a
great fan base here for squash.”