American Chris Gordon produced one of three major upsets that saw three of the world’s top twenty-five players make first-round exits in the $35,000 U.S. Pro Series Charlottesville Open Wednesday at the McArthur Squash Center at Boar’s Head Resort in Virginia.

After advancing to the main draw after two rounds of qualifying in Richmond earlier this week, world No. 59 Gordon entered the match having lost all three previous encounters with fifth-seeded Tom Richards, world No. 24. After Gordon edged out the first game 11-8, the English international earned a 2-1 advantage winning the second and third games 11-9, 11-4. Gordon then ground through the fourth and fifth games to win the match in five games 11-9, 11-9.

Gordon’s quarterfinal opponent is New Zealand’s Campbell Grayson, who eliminated defending champion and four seed Alister Walker in his first round match. Grayson, world No. 49 and the 2014 U.S. Pro Series champion, had never defeated Walker in his career prior to Wednesday, and completed his first victory over the Botswana world No. 23 in four games 11-6, 8-11, 11-9, 11-7.

“Happy to win my match today,” Grayson said afterwards. “Never easy playing against a good friend and we know each others games well. I like the court conditions here and looking forward to my match tomorrow against Chris.”

“Campbell was too good today,” said Walker, the 2014 Charlottesville Open champion. “I had my opportunity in the third to go 2-1 up but once that moment passed I was always behind.”

Harvard graduate Ali Farag pulled off the third major upset of the first round, defeating Mexican world No. 25 Cesar Salazar in four games 11-7, 10-12, 11-8, 11-6. Farag, world No. 48, takes on fellow Egyptian and top seed Karim Abdel Gawad in the quarterfinals.

The Charlottesville Open is headlining the third annual Festival of Squash at the Boar’s Head Resort. Adult, juniors, and doubles draws will be contested on the McArthur Squash Center’s surrounding eight international singles and two hardball doubles courts throughout the weekend. All matches are free admission and open to the public.

Professional matches are streaming and scoring live on U.S. Pro Series Live powered by www.clublocker.com. Match play begins at 5pm ET.

Streaming Schedule:
5pm: [3] Cameron Pilley (AUS) vs. [8] Ryan Cuskelly (AUS)
6pm: [1] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) vs. Ali Farag (EGY)
7pm: [2] Stephen Coppinger (RSA) vs. [7] Alan Clyne (SCO)
8pm: Chris Gordon (USA) vs. Campbel Grayson (NZL)

#CharlottesvilleOpen

Bad day at the office…the only very very slim positive is that I’ve got a few more days to prepare for San Fran #clutchingatstraws

— Tom Richards (@TomRichards86) September 16, 2015

Enjoyed my fist match here in Charlottesville , won in four ! Playing Ali Farag Tomorrow in the quarters .. Another tough match !!

— Karim Abdel Gawad (@Karimsamy91) September 17, 2015

Happy to get through to the quarters tomorrow night against Steve Coppinger. Time to watch a bit of referee squash pic.twitter.com/lAn7YXg5AS — Alan Clyne (@Clynesquash) September 16, 2015

The fourteenth $5,000 men’s U.S. Pro Series Rochester ProAm is slated to begin Tuesday evening at the University of Rochester’s Lyman Squash Courts in upstate New York.

The sixteen-player qualifying draw has a local flavor as the top five from the fifth-place-finishing University of Rochester Yellojackets, in addition to yellowjacket alum Adam Perkiomaki, test their mettle against full-time professionals Tuesday and Wednesday evening to decide four spots completing the sixteen-player main draw.

Mexican world No. 99 Eric Galvez leads the field as the top seed, and is seeded to meet U.S.-based Lewis Walters in Sunday’s final. World No. 174 Faraz Khan is the lone American, playing on what used to be his former home courts before recently turning professional full-time. Khan faces Galvez in the first round.

Khan is one of five former U.S. collegiate players in the main draw. Franklin & Marshall graduate Mauricio Sedano is the tournament’s wild card, and will play former Columbia No. 1 and four seed Ramit Tandon in the first round, while Cornell graduate Nicholas Sachvie will face former Trinity Bantam Chris Binnie.

In its fourteen years, the Rochester ProAm has long served as a springboard for lower-ranked professionals to increase their world rankings. Some past participants include Miguel Angel Rodriguez, Daryl Selby, Karim Abdel Gawad, Ryan Cuskelly, and even in 2014 alone, Zac Alexander and Todd Harrity, who have both risen significantly in the world rankings.

Matches begin at 6pm local time Tuesday evening.

Follow @SquashRochester on Twitter for updates throughout the tournament, and visit the official tournament website for reports, images, and video from Rochester.

The second annual women’s U.S. Pro Series Richmond Open, a Tour 10 event that offers a $10,000 purse prize, kicks off at the Country Club of Virginia in the commonwealth state’s capital this afternoon.

Defending champion Joshana Chinappa, India’s world No. 21, returns as top seed in the Richmond Open. In last year’s final, Chinappa bested then-top-seeded Rachael Grinham, Australia’s world No. 13, in three decisive games. Grinham has not returned to Richmond for revenge, but Chinappa will face competition from Welshwoman Tesni Evans, world No. 31 and second-seed, as well as Samantha Cornett, Canada’s world No. 32 and third seed.

In only its second year, the Richmond Open has drawn players from twelve countries—the most from Mexico at four players. The sole qualifying match will be played Tuesday evening at 5pm local time between France’s world N0. 131 Marie Stephan and world No. 151 Melissa Alves. Main draw play begins tomorrow, April 15, at 4:30pm.

See main draw with times here.

“This is the second year we have hosted this tournament and it has allowed Richmond to see squash in a whole new light,” Patrick Chifunda, one of the tournament directors, shared.

“Allowing the community to see professional women complete in such an amazing sport is motivating and inspiring,” Chifunda continued. “Richmond is a close-nit community, and it is wonderful to see how people join together to make a tournament like the Richmond Open possible.”

For more information, visit the official Richmond Open tournament page.

It was a day for twenty-one-year-old American phenoms. Hours before golfer Jordan Spieth claimed his first major title, Amanda Sobhy won the largest professional title of her career in Spieth’s hometown, Dallas.

One month after winning her second national title in her first tournament as an official professional, Sobhy made it two for two, claiming the $35,000 U.S. Pro Series Texas Open title at Life Time Fitness in Plano, Texas.

In a repeat of the 2010 World Junior Championship final, the soon-to-be Harvard graduate defeated top-seeded world No. 5 Nour El Tayeb 11-7, 8-11, 11-8, 11-4.

“I am ecstatic right now,” Sobhy said. “This is my biggest tournament tour title to date and I’m so happy to have won it here in Texas!

“The crowd has been amazing all week. Sanjeeb and his team put on a spectacular event and took care of all the players so well. I fully enjoyed my time here and really looking forward to coming back to Dallas.”

Sunday’s final marked the ninth encounter between Sobhy and El Tayeb. El Tayeb had won their most recent match in the semifinals of August’s Malaysian Open, and reached her highest career world ranking of five in April’s world rankings.

“First of all it has been a great week,” El Tayeb said. “Everyone has been super nice and very welcoming. From the people to the organizing committee, this is one of the best organized tournaments I have been to for sure.

“Today Amanda was the better player. She played the right game. Unfortunately, I couldn’t push through today and she just played better than I did so all credit to her.”

“Nour is such a talented player and a fighter and I knew I had to be mentally and physically strong in order to beat her today,” Sobhy said of her opponent.

Sobhy, twenty-one, has now won eight tour titles during her four years as a Harvard student, and thirteen tour titles total. The Sea Cliff, New York-native will graduate from Harvard next month, after which she will join the tour full-time while basing herself in Boston.

“I want to thank my coaches Thierry Lincou and Shahid Zaman for working with me to get ready for this tournament. I also need to thank my family for their continuous support because without them I would be nowhere. Bringing this trophy back to Harvard with me where I will finish up my last month of school before I graduate on May 28th. Hopefully this is just the start of good things to come for my pro career.”

The Texas Open’s roots run deep—tracing back to a 1999 exhibition match between former world No. 1 Sarah Fitz-Gerld and local teaching pro Aidan Harrison in Dallas. Local squash enthusiasts were inspired by the display, and raised $17,000 to fund the WISPA Dallas Open in 2000. Since 2002, Dallas and Houston have alternated hosting the tournament.

Tournament director and Dallas Squash President Sanjeeb Samanta is running his fifth Texas Open since 2007, and has helped to grow the Dallas squash community to more than 300 players. The Texas Open is funded by private donations and a fundraising golf tournament.

The Texas Open returns to Houston in 2016.

For more Texas Open information, visit the official tournament website.

Nine-time U.S. Champion Julian Illingworth and former Dartmouth No. 1 and current world No. 159 Chris Hanson have made it to the qualifying finals of the U.S. Pro Series Oregon Open, a $15,000 prize-purse event, hosted by the Multnomah Athletic Club in Portland.

Illingworth, a Portland-native, is the top seed and hometown favorite in the qualifying draw of the Open. He bested Norwegian world No. 238 Adrian Ostbye in three rapid games 11-7, 11-5, 11-7 in thirty minutes Monday. Illingworth faces seventh-seeded Englishman Nathan Lake, world No. 134, in the final round of qualifying. The two have played once before—in the Sekisui Open in May 2013—where Illingworth defeated the Englishman in three games.

Anders Giltvedt, tournament director for the Oregon Open, reported that Illingworth “didn’t show any sleep deprivation on court [as a consequence of his recent move back to Portland from New York], but gracefully drop-shotted his way to victory, and was helped by a few lucky nicks.”

Bedford, New York-native Hanson took just ten minutes longer to defeat his opponent, Canada’s world No. 106 Matthew Serediak, in three games, 11-5, 11-4, 11-6. This marks Hanson’s first PSA victory of the new year.

In the last round of qualification, Hanson will face Seattle-based world No. 108 Shahjahan Khan. The two have played once previously, a back-and-forth five-gamer in the National Squash Academy Open in August 2014. Khan ultimately took the match 11-7, 7-11, 11-5, 5-11, 11-4.

Hanson and Illingworth both play this evening at 5pm and 7pm local time, respectively.

Follow @OregonOpen2015 on twitter for updates throughout the tournament.

For more information, visit the official Portland Open tournament page.

Report courtesy of the Professional Squash Association

Colombian Miguel Angel Rodriguez emerged victorious in a battle of training partners as he got the better of Stephen Coppinger, the World No. 18 from South Africa, in the final of the Suburban Collection Motor City Open 2015, PSA International 70 tournament in Detroit, to become the tournament’s first ever South American winner.

The duo both train under the guidance of former Australian World Champion David Palmer at his base in Orlando, but it was high-flying Rodriguez who got the better of his powerful opponent, coming from a game down to seal the championship after a grueling 112-minute encounter that brought to close a dramatic week of action in Bloomfield Hills. Continue reading Rodriguez Seals Motor City Open Title →

Americans Sabrina Sobhy and Latasha Khan both lost in Thursday night’s Tub O’ Towels Cleveland Classic qualifying.

Khan, World No. 50, pushed Guyanese world No. 21 Nicolette Fernandes to five games, but fell short in the the fifth game 10-12, 11-5, 11-4, 7-11, 11-2. Continue reading Sobhy and Khan Ousted in Cleveland Qualifying →

The qualification round for the Tub O’ Towels Cleveland Classic, a Gold 50 Women’s Squash Association (WSA) event, begins today, January 29, at the Cleveland Racquet Club in Pepper Pike, Ohio.

The Cleveland Classic returns for its ninth year, with top WSA players drawn from all over the world, the event has seen tremendous growth since its inception in 2006. The Classic attracted nine of the top ten players in 2012; now, in 2015 the Classic boasts all ten, including six of the top thirty. Continue reading Qualification for Cleveland Classic Commences →

Top seeds Ryan Cuskelly and Martin Knight will contest the Professional Squash Association (PSA) Life Time Phoenix Open Sunday evening in Tempe, Arizona. Continue reading Cuskelly and Knight to Contest Life Time Phoenix Open Final →