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Bay Club Fremont Satellite Tournament

Name: BCF satellite 2023
Draw : 32
Location: Bay Club Fremont
To enroll please contact the promoter: 203-512-8114

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Norcal News Tournaments

Bay Club Fremont Winter Challenge Dec 20-21

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 fee $50.

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.

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Blog Norcal News Team League Tournaments Uncategorized

NorCal Squash Team Tournament Playoffs 2019

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

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Save the Date: NorCal Squash Team Tournament and Members Dinner


Dear Members,

Join us for the annual 2019 NorCal Squash dinner, celebrating the league teams battling for first place, this years MVP, and most importantly you. Without your continued support and passion for the sport we would not be able to make the strides in accessibility, inclusion, and level of play we have been able to achieve. The dinner is free of charge to all current members of NorCal Squash.

Where:
Urban Curry
523 Broadway, San Francisco, CA 94133

When:
6:00-10:00pm 20 April, 2019

Space is limited, please RSVP to northerncaliforniasquash@gmail.com

In addition to the dinner, the team tournament playoffs will be held at the Bay Club San Francisco April 19-21. Teams from across the Bay Area and Sacramento will be battling for the top spot across all four divisions. Come cheer on your local players while enjoying light refreshments.

Sincerely yours,

Emilie Van Der Hoorn and the NorCal Board


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Blog Norcal News Tournaments

NorCal Squash Hosts $1K PSA Tournament at Bay Club Redwood Shores

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.


The tournament began Thursday afternoon with the round of 16 matches. The top 4 seeds
each advanced in 3 games: Nawar (#1 seed) topped local junior, Varun Chitturi (a finalist at
the US Junior Nationals in Boys U15); Cole Becker of Princeton University (#2 seed) pushed
past former Harvard ace Zeke Scherl; Johnson (#3 seed) got through a strong Chris
Lambrou, a South African currently living in Sacramento; and the seasoned English pro
Chris Fuller (#4 seed) defeated Bay Club whiz kid Garrett Kitahata (#30, U19).
In the remaining 4 matches, Stanford University coach Nick Talbott came up against some
strong physicality and shot-making from Mukunth Gopalakrishnan (#5, U15), on his way to
a 3-0 win over the local junior. Another former Harvard star, Nigel Koh, fought back
against local pro Zephan Huang to level the match 2-2, before falling 11-9 in an exciting 5th
game. Elsewhere, top local juniors were tested by the visiting Egyptian players – Udai Pal
(#20, U19) came up just short against North Cairo-based Ahmed Abualela (3-1), while
Dillon Huang (also a finalist at US Junior Nationals, ranked # 2, U19) played a quality match
with Marwan Mahmoud, from Alexandria, Egypt, before falling in 3 games. The irony of the
pair meeting at this event did not go unnoticed; Mahmoud graduated last spring from the
University of Pennsylvania, where he often played #1 for the Quakers, while Huang is
headed off to UPenn in the fall, where he will attempt to follow in the alum’s footsteps.

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.”

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Blog Norcal News Tournaments

Bay Club San Francisco Skill Level Open

The Bay Club San Francisco is excited to host their annual Skill Level Open, a weekend of squash with players from across the Bay Area. In addition to some excellent amateur squash there will be an exhibition match between Alfredo Avila (#69) and the Bay Area’s own Charlie Johnson (#200).

Club San Francisco Skill Level Open
03/30/2019 – 03/31/2019
Exhibition match: Saturday 6:00pm | Alfredo Avila #69 vs. Charlie Johnson #200 + Q&A included for tournament participants. $25 for non-tournament player viewers.
Sign Up Here!
Contact Erick with any questions about the event – Erick.Chacon@bayclubs.com

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NorCal Squash League 2018-19 Season

The start of the 2018-19 NorCal Squash League is approaching, with this years season running from mid-October through April. The league is a great way to get to know the squash community better and play competitive matches against other clubs in the area. Currently the regions include the Peninsula League, the SF City League, the East Bay League, and the Sacramento League. There is play across all divisions, from div. 1 which includes local pros through to div. 4 for those just starting to pick up the sport. Each team consists of 6-10 players, with matches against opposing teams played every two weeks. Four players from each team play each other during a match night, with best of five, rally point games. For a full explanation of the setup and rules, please click here.

For more information regarding the league, and for information on joining, please contact us!

San Francisco – Emilie van der Hoorn
East Bay – Waqas Khan
Peninsula – Michael Corbett
Sacramento – Abel Orozco

Participating clubs include: ClubSport Fremont, ClubSport San Ramon, Oakwood Athletic Club, Active Sports Oakland, Berkeley Rec Sports, Bay Club Cupertino, Rahmat Khan & HAQ International Squash Academy, Bay Club Redwood Shores, Bay Club Santa Clara, Stanford, Squash Zone, University Club, Bay Club San Francisco, University California San Francisco, Olympic Club, Bay Club Marin, Broadstone Racquet Club, Cross Court Athletic Club, Gold River Racquet Club, Laguna Creek Racquet Club, and Rio del Oro Racquet Club.

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Blog Norcal News Tournaments Uncategorized Women

Women’s Team Tournament at the BCSF

Squash is a seminal component of many women’s social lives; in fact we call it the “Squash Sisterhood.” On Saturday, September 8, the Bay Club San Francisco hosted a friendly team tournament and social event that brought together women from the Norcal region for competition, catching up, and meeting new players. The group ranged from those of us who have been playing together for the past 12 years to newer participants who are recent college grads or new arrivals to SF. Squash provides an instant sense of community in today’s transient society, particularly in San Francisco. Over 40 women attended, including local female pros Lauren Patrizio, Aisling Blake, and Shirin Kaufman.

There were 8 teams, each comprised of an A,B,C, and D player. Congratulations to the winning team, with Izzy Weisman (Club Sport San Ramon), Courtney Sabo (Bay Club San Francisco), Amara Warren (Bay Club San Francisco) and Jessica Lanham (University California San Francisco) taking home bragging rights for the year.

]1 From left to right: Amara, Courtney, Izzy, and Jess

All divisions had a great roster, particularly the women’s D division which was oversubscribed to and had a round robin in conjunction with the team tournament. Armando Olguin has been working with many women in a Monday night clinic at the Bay Club San Francisco and the group of D players has grown as a result of his coaching and encouragement. Thank you to longtime player Jacinta Corbet for her work in organizing and helping out with the women’s D round robin!

Norcal Squash kindly provided water bottles and squash balls for the event and the Bay Club San Francisco provided the courts. There was a lot of energy and enthusiasm for continuing the tradition of a monthly women’s round robin, in addition to the annual women’s team tournament. Next months women’s round robin is hosted by Cathy Gregory at Stanford on October 13 at 2:00pm in Palo Alto. We anticipate that we will meet again in November at Oakwood Athletic Club in Lafayette, stay posted for more details and be sure to stay up to date on women’s squash events on Facebook.

By Carrie Kahn


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Latitude 38 Open 2018

Join the Bay Club San Francisco for the annual Latitude 38 Open Singles tournament!

Registration is now open at https://www.ussquash.com/TOURNAMENTS/, search for upcoming tournaments in California to find the 2018 Latitude 38 Open. The juniors gold runs from September 21 to September 23, followed by the open/adult group September 28 to September 30. Tournament entry includes food, shirts, and admission to early round matches for the Oracle Netsuite Squash Open held at the Bay Club September 28. For any questions please contact the tournament director Gareth Webber at (408)-402-1900.