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American Quartet Set for Oregon Open Action

Portland's Julian Illingworth (R) on his way to a ninth U.S. national title in 2014 final against Todd Harrity.
Portland’s Julian Illingworth (R) on his way to a ninth U.S. national title in 2014 final against Todd Harrity.

Four Americans, including Portland’s nine-time U.S. Champion Julian Illingworth and 2013 U.S. Champion Chris Gordon, are set to compete in the $15,000 U.S. Pro Series Oregon Open at the Multnomah Athletic Club in Portland this week.

Illingworth, who recently moved back to his home city of Portland, is the top seed in qualifying and faces Norwegian Adrian Ostbye Monday evening. Joining Illingworth in first round qualifying is world No. 159 Chris Hanson, who makes his third PSA appearance of 2015. The former Dartmouth No. 1 is in search of his first PSA victory of the year against Canadian world No. 106 Matthew Serediak. Three local Americans, Charlie Wagner, Matthew Bassist, and Phillip Carbajal will try to upset full-time professionals in qualifying.

At least one American is guaranteed to reach the last eight with Gordon, world No. 57, and twenty-one-year-old Faraz Khan, lined up against each other in the first round. Khan enters the main draw as the wild card, having reached his highest career world ranking of 200 this month. Gordon is seeded seventh, and aiming for his first PSA victory of 2015 after opening losses in the Tournament of Champions in January, and Pittsburgh Open earlier this month.

Indian world No. 21 Suarav Ghosal leads the draw as the top seed, and is seeded to meet English world No. 28 Adrian Grant in Saturday’s final. 2014 Oregon Open finalist Omar Abdel Meguid returns as the third seed.

The 2014 Oregon Open was the tournament’s third iteration and first since 2008. The 2015 Oregon Open continues the competition’s momentum with ticket sales rising and interest from the Portland squash community thriving according to tournament chairman Anders Giltvedt.

“The growing Portland squash community is eagerly looking forward to experiencing a showcase of world-class squash first hand,” Giltvedt said ahead of the tournament.

Ticket sales are up 25% over the 2014 Oregon Open according to Giltvedt, an indication of the growing squash community in Portland and the strong field of professionals from around the globe who have entered.

Follow @OregonOpen2015 on twitter for updates throughout the tournament.

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