U.S. Pro Series Live

The main draw of the Corporation Service Company Delaware Open is scheduled to begin Thursday at the Vicmead Hunt Club in Wilmington.

The Delaware Open, now in its sixth year, was the second pro event that Amanda Sobhy ever won, a part of a skein of four PSA tournament wins over the winter and spring of 2010 that led to her capturing the 2010 World Junior Championships that summer.

This year Siyoli Waters of South Africa comes in as the number-one seed and Fiona Moverley of England is the number two seed.

There are two locally-based juniors in the event, Julia Ward and Jen Cleary and Kelsey Engman is the other American in the main draw.

The CSC, one of the largest registered agent service companies in the world, represents hundreds of thousands of business entities worldwide, including nearly 90% of the Fortune 500.

All matches are scoring live on U.S. Pro Series Live powered by www.clublocker.com.

Previous winners:
2010- Amanda Sobhy (currently world No.7)
2011- Deon Saffery (43)
2012- Delia Arnold (15)
2013- Sarah Jane Perry (12)
2014- No event
2015- Sam Cornett (44)

France’s world No. 5 Camille Serme won her tenth PSA Tour title and first $50,000 Tub O’Towels Cleveland Classic title, defeating England’s world No. 9 Alison Waters Tuesday night at the Cleveland Racquet Club in Ohio.

Top-seeded Serme was competing in her fifth Cleveland Classic—and until this year—had never progressed past the quarterfinals.

The 2015 Allam British Open champion went the distance this year dropping just two games throughout the tournament.

The twenty-six-year-old from Creteil fell behind in the final, as Waters claimed the first game 11-7. Serme responded to win the match in four, 7-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-5.

“I felt flat and tired from yesterday,” said Serme, who had defeated Sarah-Jane Perry in a three-game semifinal Monday.

“I didn’t feel like I could do it today,” Serme continued. “Alison is very strong so I had to stay with my strategy and stick it on her backhand. I try to never give up and to stay positive.”

Serme already has plans to defend her title in Cleveland next year.

“So happy with this victory,” Serme wrote on her facebook page.

“It was a great match against Alison in the final: hard battle but good atmosphere. It was very tactical and I’m glad I managed to stay in this battle to win at the end.

“Thank you so much to everyone for the support! My coach, my family and some friends stayed up late to watch if from France so thank you. Thank you to all my sponsors. Thank you to the great Lennon’s family for everything they’ve done this week to make me feel like home! See you next year Cleveland.”

Serme returns stateside at the end of February for the World Series Guggenheim Windy City Open in Chicago, where she is seeded fourth.

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Qualifying for the $15,000 Oregon Open is complete as five players complete the sixteen-player main draw at the Multnomah Athletic Club in Portland.

Four of the the five players reached the main draw via the qualifying finals, while nine-time U.S. champion Julian Illingworth was handed a tournament life-line via a lucker loser spot in the main draw.

Illingworth lost his qualifying final against Malaysia’s Valentine Bong in four games. Meanwhile South African Shaun Le Roux was forced to withdraw from the main draw due to an injury sustained in Calgary, which opened up the draw for a lucky loser.

It was Illingworth’s lucky day as he drew Egyptian two seed Karim Ali Fathi in the first round of main draw play Wednesday.

Illingworth joins U.S. teammates Todd Harrity and Chris Gordon in the main draw, who are seeded fourth and fifth respectively.

Gordon will face former Trinity No. 1 Vikram Malhotra, who defeated American Faraz Khan in his qualifying final. Malhotra recently won the 2015 Florida Open as a qualifier in December.

Harrity will face Bong in their first match up on the PSA Tour.

All matches are streaming and scoring live on U.S. Pro Series Live powered by www.clublocker.com.

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U.S. Pro Series Live

Team USA’s Amanda Sobhy matched her high-water mark in the $50,000 Tub O’Towels Cleveland Classic Sunday afternoon, defeating India’s Dipika Pallikal in a three-game quarterfinal at Cleveland Racquet Club in Ohio.

After enduring a five-game opening match against Victoria Lust, Sobhy came through 11-6, 11-7, 11-8 against world No. 17 Pallikal.

“My game plan was to keep it on her backhand and get good length,” Sobhy said. “She is a hard-hitter of the ball so I had to keep it away from her forehand.”

The twenty-two year old world No. 8 is competing in her fourth Cleveland Classic, and with her result Sunday, matches her best tournament finish of reaching semifinals in 2012.

Like 2012 when she faced Laura Massaro, the American faces English opposition in the form of two seed and world No. 9 Alison Waters.

Waters defeated Team USA’s Olivia Blatchford in her quarterfinal 12-10, 11-3, 12-10, ending Blatchford’s tournament-best run that included two five-game upsets over higher-ranked opposition.

“Experience played a big role tonight,” Waters said. “I didn’t want to drop a game because mentally that would have made Olivia better.”

Sobhy and Waters met just two weeks ago in the quarterfinals of the J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions, which the Harvard graduate won 12-10, 11-3, 11-9 in thirty-eight minutes.

Their match is streaming live and scoring live on U.S. Pro Series Live powered by www.clublocker.com Monday night at 6:45pm ET.

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U.S. Pro Series Live

England’s world No. 9 Alison Waters avenged her loss in the Tournament of Champions quarterfinals against Team USA’s Amanda Sobhy, by defeating the Harvard graduate in a five-game Cleveland Classic semifinal Monday night at the Cleveland Racquet Club in Ohio.

Just a few weeks ago in Grand Central Terminal, the twenty-two-year-old American got the better of Waters in three games and thirty-eight minutes.

Sobhy earned an early advantage Monday night, taking the first and third games to go 2-1 up. Waters quickly responded to win the fourth 11-3 and force a fifth game.

A back and forth fifth saw Waters clinch the entertaining match 12-10 to reach the final.

“I had to get deeper length, that was the key,” Waters said. “I lost my discipline and Amanda can hit a nick from anywhere as everyone saw.”

Waters will face world No. 5 Camille Serme in the final, after the French international defeated English national champion Sarah-Jane Perry in three games.

“I try to focus on every ball in every point,” Serme said. “Sarah is such a nightmare to play because she is so talented and hits the ball well. It was a good tough battle.”

Tuesday night’s final is streaming and scoring live on U.S. Pro Series Live at 6:30pm ET.

Report courtesy of PSA.

World No. 16 Ryan Cuskelly capped off a superb 2015 by topping last year’s U.S. Pro Squash Series rankings, claiming the top prize of $2,500 in additional bonus prize money.

The Australian No. 2, who was in fine form throughout a year that saw him break into the world’s top 20 for the first time in addition to claiming four PSA World Tour titles, beat Scotland’s Alan Clyne and Mexico’s Cesar Salazar to the summit of the rankings while 2014 winner Campbell Grayson, who pipped Cuskelly to the title that year, had to settle for fourth.

Cuskelly picked up 1,380 points from five events which included victory at February’s Oregon Open and a runner-up finish at the Charlottesville Open in September of last year. A last four spot at the Pittsburgh Open combined with a quarter-final place at the Life Time Fitness Houston Open and a final qualifying round exit at the Suburban Collection Motor City Open added to his impressive total.

“I’m really happy to win the U.S. Pro Squash Series this year, particularly as I came in second last year,” said Cuskelly.

“Winning the U.S. Pro Squash Series is even more special for me as I live and train in the U.S. and play most of my tournaments around the country. I think this series could really grow as there are so many tournaments in the states now which makes it a great place to base yourself as a professional player on the PSA World Tour.”

The 2015 U.S. Pro Squash Series included twenty events ranging from $5,000 to $70,000 in prize money with players needing to participate in a minimum of four tournaments to be eligible for the additional bonus prize money.

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The $15,000 U.S. Pro Series Oregon Open returns to the Multnomah Athletic Club in Portland this week with the first round of qualifying complete Sunday.

The sixteen-player qualifying draw saw Portland-native and nine-time U.S. Champion Julian Illingworth advance in three games against another local Will Grunder.

MAC teenager Alec Spiro got a taste of professional play against California-based Englishman Charlie Johnson, who advanced to Monday’s qualifying finals in three games.

Team USA’s Faraz Khan faces a difficult qualifying final against former Trinity No. 1 Vikram Malhotra after both players advanced in three games.

Malhotra returned to the PSA tour and captured the $10,000 Life Time Fitness Florida Open title as a qualifier in December.

Team USA’s Todd Harrity and Chris Gordon both await qualifiers in the main draw Wednesday. The two Americans are seeded to meet each other in the quarterfinals in what would be a rematch of the 2015 S.L. Green U.S. Men’s Championship final, in which Harrity won his first national title.

Matches are streaming and scoring live on U.S. Pro Series Live.

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Team USA’s Olivia Blatchford and Amanda Sobhy both progressed to the $50,000 Tub O’Towels Cleveland Classic quarterfinals after pulling out five-game victories in the round of sixteen Saturday afternoon.

Sobhy first endured a difficult encounter against England’s world No. 19 Victoria Lust. After going down 2-1 in games, Sobhy clawed back to win the match 9-11, 11-4, 11-13, 12-10, 11-4.

Sobhy now faces India’s world No. 17 Dipika Pallikal in the quarterfinals Sunday afternoon at 3:30 local time.

Blatchford found herself two games down against England’s world No. 14 Jenny Duncalf, but turned the match around winning the third 11-5. While Blatchford was up 6-3 in the fourth, Duncalf pulled a muscle lunging for the ball, which hampered her movement for the rest of the match. The American world No. 37 capitalized closing out the match in five to pull off her highest-ranked career upset and her best appearance at the Cleveland Classic in her fourth time playing the tournament.

Blatchford now faces England’s two seed and world No. 9 Alison Waters Sunday at 4:15pm.

All matches are streaming live here, and scoring live on U.S. Pro Series Live.

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U.S. Pro Series Live

Team USA’s Olivia Blatchford and Amanda Sobhy head to the edge of Lake Erie this weekend for the $50,000 Cleveland Classic at the Cleveland Racquet Club in Ohio.

Blatchford, world No. 37, begins her campaign Thursday night at 7pm local time in the qualifying draw against Malta’s Colette Sultana.

The twenty-three year old from Wilton, Connecticut, is seeded to meet Australia’s world No. 23 Donna Urquhart in Friday’s qualifying finals. Blatchford and Urquhart have faced each other just once before on the PSA Tour, which Urquhart won during the 2013 Delaware Investments U.S. Open.

Sobhy, world No. 8, enters the main draw as the four seed with a first-round draw against England’s world No. 21 Victoria Lust, which is set to take place Saturday afternoon at 2:30pm.

The twenty-two year old from Sea Cliff, New York, is seeded to meet England’s world No. 9 and two seed Alison Waters in the semifinals.

Sobhy defeated Waters earlier this month during her historic run to the J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions final.

France’s world No. 3 Camille Serme leads the draw as the top seed, and is seeded to face world No. 11 Annie Au in the semifinals.

All matches are streaming live here.

All matches are scoring live on U.S. Pro Series Live powered by www.clublocker.com. For more information, visit the tournament page.

www.themotorcityopen.com

After upsetting world No.1 Mohamed Elshorbagy and world No. 9 Mathieu Castagnet on his way to the Motor City Open final, Havard Graduate Ali Farag completed his remarkable run by defeating world No. 3 Nick Matthew to win the largest prize money title of his career at Birmingham Athletic Club in Detroit.

In their first career encounter on the PSA Tour, the twenty-three-year-old Egyptian defeated the second-seeded former world No. 1 11-7, 5-11, 11-6, 11-7 in fifty minutes.

“This is definitely the best week of my career by far,” said Farag. “I’ve showed myself that I can compete with these guys and have the mental toughness to do it three days in a row. Hopefully this is going to be the beginning of a good future for me.”

“He was on a roll, the crowd was feeding on him,” Matthew said. “The last few points was the first time I felt tired all week. Credit to him for getting me to that point.”

The $70,000 title presented by The Suburban Collection is the two-time College Squash Association individual champion’s fourth and largest PSA title of his young career so far.

“If you ask any player, they would tell you that this is one of the best tournaments on tour. We feel at home, and everyone takes care of us. It’s an unbelievable feeling.”

For full tournament coverage, visit www.themotorcityopen.com.