All posts by U.S. Pro Series

Live Stream U.S. Pro Series Events in Georgia and New York

Two U.S. Pro Series events are streaming and scoring live on usprosquashseries.com/live this weekend, May 3-6, the $15,000 men’s and women’s CAC Squash Open at the Concourse Athletic Club in Sandy Springs, Georgia, and $5,000 men’s Hyder Trophy at Equinox in New York City.

The men’s and women’s CAC Open main draws are complete following two days of qualifying.

Team USA’s Todd Harrity, world No. 54, enters the men’s draw as the two seed with a predicted final against England’s top seed Joshua Masters. Fellow two-time U.S. champion Chris Hanson is seeded eighth, with a first-round draw against Nigeria’s Adewale Amao and a potential quarterfinal match against the top seed.

American world No. 88 Faraz Khan awaits Trinity graduate and five seed Chris Binnie in the first round, as Trinty’s Vikram Malhotra enters the top half of the draw as the four seed.

On the women’s side, fifteen-year-old U.S. junior champion Marina Stefanoni is set to make her fifth professional appearance of 2018. Now ranked world No. 77, Stefanoni will take on England’s two seed and Yale graduate Millie Tomlinson in the first round.

U.S. teammate Haley Mendez, who reached a career high ranking of world No. 43 this month, enters the draw as the three seed with a first-round match against Malaysia’s Weenee Low. England’s world No. 23 Emily Whitlock leads the draw as the top seed and title favorite.

The Hyder Trophy, which historically has hosted a professional draw alongside amateur draws throughout New York City each spring, marks its first year of an elevated, PSA-sanctioned professional draw.

Mexico’s former world No. 35 Alfredo Avila leads the draw as the top seed with a predicted final against 2018 Commonwealth Games doubles gold medalist Zac Alexander.

Former U.S. junior champion and UPenn freshman Andrew Douglas is seeded eighth, with a first-round match against Rochester graduate and Hazlow Electronics Rochester Pro-Am Champion, Mario Yanez.

Follow all results on usprosquashseries.com/live.

Harrity and Illingworth Through to Las Vegas Quarters

Harrity (L) and Illingworth (R) contested the 2014 S.L. Green final, in which Illingworth claimed his ninth national title.
Harrity (L) and Illingworth (R) contested the 2014 S.L. Green final, in which Illingworth claimed his ninth national title.

American world No. 46 and 88 Julian Illingworth and Todd Harrity progressed to the $10,000 Professional Squash Association (PSA) Las Vegas Open quarterfinals at Life Time Athletic Thursday evening.

Harrity’s victory came with the misfortune of opposing world No. 81 Arthur Gaskin who was forced to retire mid-match due to injury. Twenty-three-year-old Harrity now faces twenty-two-year-old Alfredo Avila in the first PSA encounter of their young careers. Avila, a Mexican international ranked thirty places higher than Harrity at fifty-eight, defeated qualifier Tom Pashley 16-14, 11-7, 9-11, 11-8, in Thursday’s first round of main draw play. Continue reading Harrity and Illingworth Through to Las Vegas Quarters

Elias and Khan Continue Tear in U.S. Pro Series Qualifying

(L-R) Elias, Pashley, and Serediak. (image: Andre Maur)
(L-R) Elias, Pashley, and Serediak. (image: Andre Maur)

Teenagers Diego Elias and Shajahan Khan have both qualified for their third 2014 U.S. Pro Series main draw after winning their Las Vegas Open qualifying finals Wednesday evening at Life Time Athletic.

Peruvian Elias, seventeen, qualified for his fifth main draw in his fifth PSA appearance of 2014 after defeating Cayman Island international Cameron Stafford 11-9, 11-8, 11-8. Elias, who rose seventy-two positions in May’s world rankings to 130, will face second-seeded world No. 42 Campbell Grayson in the main draw. Continue reading Elias and Khan Continue Tear in U.S. Pro Series Qualifying

Harrity Shifts Into Las Vegas Main Draw

Harrity (R) against world No. 4 Mohamed Elshorbagy in the Tournament of Champions.
Harrity (R) against world No. 4 Mohamed Elshorbagy in the Tournament of Champions. (image: Steve Line/squashpics.com)

Originally seeded first in qualifying, American world No. 88 Todd Harrity shifted into the main draw of the $10,000 Professional Squash Association (PSA) Las Vegas Open with the late withdrawal of Mexican world No. 93 Arturo Salazar due to injury.

Harrity joins nine-time U.S. Champion Julian Illingworth in the main draw, and will face Irish world No. 81 Arthur Gaskin in their first PSA encounter. Continue reading Harrity Shifts Into Las Vegas Main Draw

Zac Defeats Diego For Greenwich Glory

(L-R) Diego Elias, Phil Barker, and Zac Alexander. (image: Luke Butterworth)
(L-R) Diego Elias, Phil Barker, and Zac Alexander. (image: Luke Butterworth)

Article courtesy of the Professional Squash Association

Final:
[2] Zac Alexander (AUS) bt [Q] Diego Elias (PER) 16-14, 11-5, 11-3 (58m)

Australian Zac Alexander secured his second straight title on the PSA World Tour when he won the inaugural Greenwich Challenger at the Greenwich Country Club in Greenwich, Connecticut.

But the U.S.-based second seed from Brisbane did so at the expense of Diego Elias, a seventeen-year-old qualifier from Lima who made history twenty-four hours earlier when he stormed through an experienced field in the PSA Challenger 5 squash event to become the first Peruvian ever to reach a PSA Tour final. Continue reading Zac Defeats Diego For Greenwich Glory

Elias Reaches First PSA Final in Greenwich

2014 Professional Squash Association Greenwich Challenger Semifinals, Greenwich Country Club, Connecticut. 

Luke Butterworth reports: 

[Q] Diego Elias (PER) bt [4] Lewis Walters (ENG) 11-4, 11-9, 12-10 (28m)

Teenage sensation Diego Elias makes his first PSA final after taking out Lewis Walters in three games.  Walters battled through a very tough five-setter last night against Phil Barker. It was apparent in the first game that Walters was a little flat-footed and wasn’t moving to the best of his ability. He tried to extend the opening rallies to find his rhythm and it produced some great opening rallies. A few errors from Walters gave his opponent daylight at 6-4, and he didn’t look back, attacking the front on the volley and firing some penetrating drives down the line to close out the first game 11-4.

Diego took a quick 4-1 lead in the second leaving the crowd thinking that this was going to be a sprint to the finish for the young Peruvian. Walters dug in and made the middle and end of this game very hard for Diego. Walters hadn’t missed a forehand, cross-court volley nick in any of his matches and impressed everyone with his sublime shots. Elias tried his best to contain the Englishman, straightening up his game, not giving Lewis any opportunities to shoot for the nick. A few very good rallies at 9-9 ended in simple lets and kept up the intense atmosphere. A tight ball missed by Walters gave Elias game ball, and he worked a great rally to finish the ball with a deadly kill shot. Continue reading Elias Reaches First PSA Final in Greenwich

Qualifier Elias and Lucky Loser Barker Shock Greenwich Main Draw

Qualifier Diego Elias and Lucky Loser Phil Barker shocked the Professional Squash Association (PSA) Greenwich Challenger main draw with first-round upsets Thursday evening at the Greenwich Country Club in Connecticut.

Seventeen-year-old Elias, world No. 130, pulled off the upset of the tournament in the first round of matches Thursday evening, knocking out top seed and world No. 66 Muhd Asyraf Azan in four games and seventy-six minutes.

Luke Butterworth reports: “What a start to the night at GCC. Two excellent competitors took to the court and didn’t disappoint the excitable crowd. Despite a few second-game warnings to Azan and a conduct stroke for too much conversation with the referee, the quality of squash was of the highest quality. With two long-legged players, it’s inevitable there will be contact, but once the players tightened up their drives the game began to run much better. Continue reading Qualifier Elias and Lucky Loser Barker Shock Greenwich Main Draw

Qualifying Complete in Greenwich

Americans Chris Hanson (left) and Bradbury Thompson.
Americans Chris Hanson (left) and Bradbury Thompson.

Qualifying for the Professional Squash Association (PSA) Greenwich Challenger is complete as five of the eight qualifying finalists complete the sixteen-player main draw at the Greenwich Country Club in Connecticut.

Greenwich Country Club professional Phil Barker and club-member Chris Hanson led off Wednesday’s qualifying finals after both players comfortably advanced in three games Tuesday.

Hanson emphatically qualified for his second PSA main draw in just twenty-three minutes, defeating fellow American and Brown graduate Bradbury Thompson 11-4, 11-0, 11-3. The twenty-three-year-old Dartmouth graduate’s main draw opponent is his Australian training partner and two seed, Zac Alexander, in their first encounter on the professional stage. Continue reading Qualifying Complete in Greenwich

Locals Hanson and Barker Land Greenwich Qualifying Finals Spots

Hanson finished fifth at the 2014 U.S. Championships.
Hanson finished fifth at the 2014 U.S. Championships.

Greenwich locals Chris Hanson and Phil Barker recorded victories in the first round of qualifying for the Professional Squash Association (PSA) 2014 Greenwich Challenger at the Greenwich Country Club in Connecticut Tuesday evening. The Greenwich Challenger, part of the U.S. Pro Series, marks the first PSA event held in Greenwich since the 2001 Men’s Greenwich Open.

Barker, playing on the courts where the thirty-two-year-old Englishman serves as a teaching professional, recorded the fastest win of qualifying when he defeated Trinidad & Tobago’s Colin Ramasra in just seventeen minutes, 11-4, 11-5, 11-4. Barker will face Peruvian Diego Elias in Wednesday’s qualifying final. Elias, fifteen years Barker’s junior, sky-rocketed over seventy places in May’s PSA rankings to his highest career world ranking of 130. Elias sealed his qualifying finals spot against the Round Hill Club’s Squash Doubles Association world No. 21, Greg McArthur, in twenty-two minutes. Continue reading Locals Hanson and Barker Land Greenwich Qualifying Finals Spots

Zac’s Back – With Title in Rochester

Zac Alexander (far left), Todd Harrity (center), and tournament promoter John Walsh following Sunday's final.
Zac Alexander (far left), Todd Harrity (center), and tournament promoter John Walsh following Sunday’s final.

Article courtesy of the Professional Squash Association. Image courtesy of Bill Lampeter.

Tournament website: www.rocprosquash.com
Watch a replay of the final: www.rocprosquash.com/category/2014/

Australia’s Zac Alexander marked his comeback after a seven-month layoff in impressive style when he took the Hazlow Electronics Rochester Pro-Am title in Rochester, NY, after surviving a marathon ninety-minute final in the PSA World Tour Challenger 5 squash event at the Goergen Athletic Center at the University of Rochester.  Continue reading Zac’s Back – With Title in Rochester