Photos by Gonazalo Chavez, @chalo_chavez
Open Squash FiDi was abuzz in early December for the New York Open, a New York Squash tournament run under the auspices of U.S. Squash by Tournament Director Mike Pepper and his crack team of squash-ionados including Paulina Rojek.
Nobody can figure out how many years the tournament has been running, despite best efforts, but it’s grown into one of the best-attended tournaments in the league, coming just after the Thanksgiving break and this year, more than 150 players from around the New York area and beyond competed in a variety of brackets from 3.0 to Open and there was also a PSA Satellite tournament for pro players. Hundreds of people tuned into the live-stream of the glass court matches on Youtube.
If you’ve not played a New York Squash tournament before and are on the fence, they’re a great way to improve your squash level and deepen your engagement with the vibrant community of players. Food and drink are provided and there’s a lot of great squash to watch and enjoy, as well as plenty of convivial conversation with fellow squash lovers.
“You actually get better when you lose matches,” said Ken Berlin, who came in tenth in the 5.0 singles draw. “It makes you take a step back and look at your game and what you could do better.”
Xavier Auserman came 16th in the 4.5 singles draw and this was his second year playing the tournament. He got into squash after his wife got him a squash membership when they moved to New York City from Virginia.
“These tournaments are great. Everyone’s invested in getting better and playing competitive matches,” he said.
New York Squash league director Ben Baum played a tough second round match against 16-year-old William Johnson in the 5.5-singles event, which Johnson won, 3-1, but not before losing the first game. His mother, Elizabeth, was watching, along with Will’s dog, Riley.
“He’s going to kill me,” his mother said, of the tension, watching the match.
“Tell them Will Johnson is the next Ali Farag,” Will said, after the game, evidently joking, when asked for a quote. Johnson, who trains with Egyptian coach Amr Khalifa at Open Squash, had been hitting repeated drop shots and nicks in practice earlier in the week, and managed to pull off a couple in his match with Baum. He had hit more tins than he wanted, but ultimately profited from Baum’s hitting the ball into the backcourt slightly predictably, instead of counter-dropping on Johnson’s devilish short play. Johnson ended up coming eighth in his division.
Hazim Mukhtar came fifth in the 4.5 singles draw, and came through a tough second round encounter with Irene Barillas Lara. “I almost passed out during the match, honestly. She hits incredible shots and I had to run for every ball,” he said, giving full credit to his opponent.
Lara herself enjoyed watching the 5.5. match between former Princeton player James Thorman who lost 11-13 in the fifth against Franki Velasquez, 25, who is originally from Guatemala but plays in New Haven, CT, now.
“These are two incredible players,” she said, watching the match. “The level is just insane.”
“He played well,” Velasquez said, of Thorman. “I just had to tire him out and got lucky on the last shot.”
Thoman praised his opponent. “That’s the best squash I’ve played in quite a while,” he said, ultimately coming ninth in his division, while Velasquez came fifth.
Patrick Moran came third in the men’s 5.0 singles division after a victory against his former league teammate, Mike McConnell. “These tournaments are a great place to play and measure your level,” he said. Moran is the U.S. Racketlon president and recently quit his job at a tech firm to coach racket sports around the city, full-time.
“It’s fun to get back into the competitive nature of squash,” said Daraius Sumariwalla, who came seventh in the 4.5 singles event and loved the tournament. “I played in college and it’s fun to play the league but that’s a bit different from these events. I feel like I’m in my element at events like this and can really push hard into the matches.”
Congratulations to everyone who took part. Full results are available at the ClubLocker website, and of course, congratulations to the champions:
Women’s 3.5. Singles
🥇Anna Krason
🥈Becca Marcus
3.5 Singles
🥇Jin Park 🥇
🥈Zeineddine Zuberi
4.0 Singles
🥇Elizabeth Benedict
🥈Matthew Poveromo
4.5 Singles
🥇Graham Kaemmer
🥈Cory Collman
5.0 Singles
🥇John Dangerfield
🥈Chad Valerio
5.5 Singles
🥇Brian Hamilton
🥈William Martinez
Open Singles
🥇Christopher W. Hart
🥈Jack M Blasberg
Women’s 4.0/4.5
🥇Alexis Slattery
🥈Hope Johnson
And a huge congratulations, too, to the PSA Satellite 1K champions:
Women’s PSA Satellite 1K
🥇Franka Vidovic
🥈Sydney Maxwell
Men’s PSA Satellite 1K
🥇Sam Todd
🥈Pedro Facury
