The Electric Spectacle of the 2025 College Squash Association (CSA) Individual Championships

If you’ve never been to a college squash tournament, you’re really missing a treat.

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CSA 2025 Individuals
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If you’ve never been to a college squash tournament, you’re really missing a treat. Never mind “March Madness”, how about a “January Joyride!?”

Suffice to say, the atmosphere is extremely energetic and exciting. On Saturday and Sunday January 25-26, Open Squash FiDi hosted the 2025 CSA Individual Championships. 32 of the top varsity women and 32 of the top varsity men faced off over two days, with the semifinals and finals set to transfer to the Tournament of Champions Stage at Grand Central Station on Monday and Tuesday.

Limited tickets are still available for the semifinals and finals, or if you email CSA commissioner Harry Smith and ask nicely, he might also be able to help you out once the tickets have sold out on the TOC website. If you can’t watch it in person, it will also be broadcast live on Squash.tv with commentary by Chris Gordon and Jackson Bragman, host of The Bragman Breakdown podcast.

“Open Squash’s FiDi location is an incredible venue for a tournament of this calibre,” said Smith. “Our players have praised the ultra-modern amenities and the unmatched squash experience. It’s been a blast.”

“It’s been an absolute pleasure for us to host Harry and the varsity athletes over the weekend,” said Open Squash Director of Operations and Head of Marketing, Ona Prokes. “Seeing the best players and the future of the game compete at such a high level is inspiring for all of us.”

As matches played out during the initial Saturday and Sunday, the sense of anticipation palpably grew among the spectators and athletes. On court two, Trinity player Hannah Chukwu from Hungary beat Habeeba Eldefrawy from Harvard. Harvard coach Mike Way looked on as Chukwu clinched the winning game 11-9 against his charge, and the crowd went wild. If you had told most onlookers beforehand that an Egyptian player, playing for Harvard, might have lost to a Hungarian playing for Trinity, without knowing who the players were, they might have laid odds against you. But college squash in the U.S. is going through a period of increased competition and even more excitement than ever.

“It was an amazing result,” said Chukwu, afterwards. “I’ve been playing squash my whole life and to compete on the college tour is fantastic preparation for a professional career in the game.”

Originally from Tatabanya in Hungary, Chukwu is one of a new wave of college squash players competing at the highest level. She made #32 on the PSA tour before even playing at Trinity and looks forward to a successful pro squash career after she’s done.

“The experience of coming to college in America, studying at an academically high level and playing with some of the best young players in the world is unmatched,” she said. She also took time to explain a few of her several tattoos, including one on her right arm of her mother and her grandparents. “It’s like taking my family with me,” she said. “I miss them all the time, and so it’s nice to bring them along for the journey.”

Normally the individual championships take place at the end of the college season, but by transitioning from a post-season to a mid-season event, the CSA successfully showcased the paramount collegiate squash talent and offered fans a great spectator experience this year.

“The college game in this country has never been better,” Smith said. “We have about 700 athletes competing across more than 60 teams, 50% of those players are internationally recruited and represent more than 52 countries. For athletes around the world this has become a proving ground and a place to elevate their level. We’re delighted to showcase the best in college talent in partnership with Open Squash.”

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