Open Squash's Best Ever Medal Haul in the New York Squash League

Open Squash members had a fantastic showing at the recent New York Squash league finals:

Medal table

Harvard Club 🥇🥇🥇 🥈🥈 

Open Squash 🥇🥇🥇 🥈🥈

Street Squash 🥇🥈🥈

University Club🥇

Equinox 🥇

Yale Club 🥇

NYAC 🥈🥈

Our players won the crown in the 3.5, 4.0 and 4.5 divisions of the finals, and came runner-up in the 4.0 finals and 5.5 division. There's always room for improvement, of course, but for a recent entrant to New York's squash scene it's cool.

Results; All divisions

3.0 — 🥇 Harvard Club 2—1 vs. Yale Club 🥈 

3.5 — 🥇Open Squash Bryant Park 3—0 vs.  Harvard Club 🥈

4.0 — 🥇Open Squash Fidi 3—0 vs Open Squash Bryant Park 🥈

4.5 — 🥇Open Squash Fidi 3—0 vs. University Club 🥈

5.0 — 🥇 University Club 3—0 vs. Street Squash 🥈

5.5 — 🥇 Equinox 2—1 vs. Open Squash Fidi🥈

Open — 🥇Harvard Club 2—1 vs. NYAC 🥈

Women’s A — 🥇Yale Club 2—1 vs Street Squash 🥈

Women’s B — 🥇Harvard Club 2—1 vs NYAC 🥈

Women’s C — 🥇Street Squash 2—1 vs. Harvard Club 🥈

At 3.5, Ben Plawker, Jin Park and Omar Abdel-Hafez won 3-0 against their Harvard Club rivals and were delighted with the victory. 

"It feels amazing to win," said Jin. "We'd like to thank coach Peter Creed for his team practices on Sundays. They got us here."

At one point, two of the best players in the country were playing on the open court — Marwan Tarek and George Crown, who played first and second string at Harvard in 2022-3, were playing an exhibition game, in the absence of opponents from NYAC. 

But...nobody was watching that. Instead, all eyes were on Open Squash's two 4.0-level teams, one from Fidi and the other from Bryant Park as they battled it out for the crown. Congrats to Open Squash Fidi, who pulled out a three-zero victory over their Bryant Park rivals, but not without some major drama. 

"The secret was perseverence. I was really hung over today, I just ate two slices of pizza and had a bottle of coke and it got me over the line. I want to thank my fellow co-captain Matthew Povoromo and dedicate the victory to him," said FiDi co-captian, Stephen Russell, congratulating his colleagues Rodolfo Donatelli and Aaron Zheng for their victory over Saiful, Sean Kapoor and Ian Rutherford from Bryant Park. 

At one point Saiful hit Rodolfo in the head with his racket, by accident, but it made Rodolfo play better, he said. Saiful, from Bryant Park, enjoyed being in a rare runner-up interview. 

"We had a plan, tried to execute it, kind of fell short, but we had fun," said Saiful, on the losing team. "Want to thank Justin Berlin for his huge effort in captaining the team and bringing it together. It was great to play against Fidi. We see these guys all the time, it's very friendly but also very intense and spicy as well."

At 4.5, Graham Kaemmer and his colleagues Tom Ashenden and Ryan Bell beat the University Club 3-0. 

"We didn't have such a great in-season run," said Mr. Kaemmer. "But we've pulled it out in the playoffs and we can't wait to come back and play in the league again next year. It's the best community in New York. Want to thank Dan Kim for captaining our team this year, and it feels like every week he goes through a logistical challenge to do this, we're so grateful."

Will Johnson won his 5.5 match against an Equinox player, but his teammates Kush Mahan and Chris Ritter lost out in 2-3 heartbreakers. Will, himself, went through a nailbiting game with Equinox player Sandeep Gill to come through and win. His mom, watching, said Will loves the drama of a close match. Will thanked his teammates for their fierce support against a home crowd that ultimately won the day. Kush's pregnant wife was watching him play and told us, "I'm on the edge of my seat." At 37, she said Kush was still playing at a high level and loved supporting him, along with their "first child," their golden doodle dog. 

Congratulations to all Open Squash's league players. 

We're already excited for next year!

If you follow Open Squash on instagram, you can keep up with all the drama in real time.