www.themotorcityopen.com

U.S. Pro Series Live

Harvard graduate Ali Farag shook up the $70,000 Motor City Open draw this weekend, pulling off the upset of his young career over world No. 1 Mohamed Elshorbagy in the quarterfinals, and defeating France’s world No. 9 Mathieu Castagnet to reach the largest final of his career Monday night, where he faces world No. 3 Nick Matthew at the Birmingham Athletic Club in Detroit.

The twenty-three-year-old world No. 22 was facing Elshobagy in just their second encounter on the PSA Tour Saturday, and handed the reigning world No. 1 his first loss since November 6-11, 11-9, 11-7, 8-11, 11-6 in sixty-six minutes.

“It’s one of the bigger wins of my career,” Farag said afterwards. “To beat the world number one is a huge thing. He was dominating the first game and a half. I changed my plan a bit, and thankfully it worked.”

On Sunday, the Egyptian continued his impressive form against Castagnet, whom he last defeated as a qualifier in the 2010 El Gouna Open, taking out the three seed 12-10, 9-11, 11-4, 11-9 in sixty-one minutes.

Farag now takes on former world No. 1 Nick Matthew for the first time in his career in a match up between the youngest and oldest players in the draw Monday night at 6pm ET.

Matthew is making his seventieth-career PSA Tour final appearance after a four-game semifinal defeat over 2009 Motor City Open champion Borja Golan.

For full tournament coverage and live scores, visit www.themotorcityopen.com and U.S. Pro Series Live.

www.themotorcityopen.com

U.S. Pro Series Live

Team USA’s Chris Gordon and Todd Harrity both lost in qualifying finals for the $70,000 Motor City Open Thursday night at the Birmingham Athletic Club in Detroit, Michigan.

After saving two match balls to defeat American Chris Hanson in five games Wednesday, Finland’s Olli Tuominen made it 2-0 against Team USA opposition Thursday, defeating Gordon 18-16, 11-8, 11-7.

Hong Kong’s Leo Au then ended U.S. representation, defeating world No. 51 Todd Harrity in their first career PSA match against each other 7-11, 11-6, 11-5, 11-8.

Tuominen and Au are joined in the main draw by fellow qualifiers Diego Elias of Peru and Nasir Iqbal of Pakistan.

Defending champion and world No. 1 Mohamed Elshorbagy leads the high-caliber main draw, and is seeded to meet world No. 3 Nick Matthew in Monday’s final.

Main draw play begins Friday at 5pm ET. Follow live scores on U.S. Pro Series Live powered by www.clublocker.com, and www.themotorcityopen.com.

www.themotorcityopen.com

U.S. Pro Series Live

Team USA’s Chris Gordon and Todd Harrity reached the qualifying finals of the $70,000 U.S. Pro Series Motor City Open Wednesday night at the Birmingham Athletic Club in Detroit, Michigan.

After going 2-0 behind against world No. 29 Cesar Salazar, Gordon fought off four match balls in the third game to extend the match to four games. Gordon earned a 7-2 lead in the fourth, at which point Salazar suffered a thigh injury and was forced to retire, handing the match to the American world No. 58.

Team USA’s world No. 75 Chris Hanson lost a heart-breaking five-gamer against Finnish world No. 46 Olli Tuominen. The Dartmouth graduate squandered two match balls in the third game, allowing the thirty-six-year-old veteran to come back and advance to the qualifying finals in five, where he will take on Gordon.

World No. 52 Todd Harrity eased through his opening match against twenty-year-old Englishman Ben Coates 11-3, 11-3, 11-6.

Harrity will contest his qualifying final against Hong Kong’s world No. 30 Leo Au. Harrity and Au have never met in the PSA Tour, but played against each other twice in the 2010 world university championships, with each player winning one match.

Friday’s qualifying finals begin at 5:30pm ET Thursday. Follow live scores on U.S. Pro Series Live and the official tournament website.

Trinity graduate and current assistant coach entered the U.S. Pro Series Betty Griffin Memorial Florida Open—the ninth PSA tournament of the twenty-six-year-old’s career—as a qualifier, and emerged the champion this weekend at Life Time Fitness Boca Raton.

Last year in the same tournament, the Indian international made his U.S. Pro Series debut having  played just two PSA tournaments before in 2006.

The three-time CSA team championship-winner stormed his way through qualifying, upsetting Team USA’s Faraz Khan in a four-game final to reach the main draw. There he met Seattle-based Pakistani Shahjahan Khan, who fell in a three-game upset. English Wild Card Joe Green was next to fall to Malhotra in a three-game quarterfinal.

Malholtra managed the biggest upset of his career to date in a shock semifinal, where he toppled one seed and world No. 64 Farhan Zaman 12-14, 11-8, 8-11, 11-6, 11-5.

New York City-based Irishman Arthur Gaskin met Malhotra in the final after defeating Cayman Islander Cameron Stafford in three games. Like Malhotra, Stafford made a surprise run to the semifinals after upsetting two seed Kush Kumar in the first round and taking out Guatemala’s Josue Enriquez in the quarters.

“Vikram played a close to perfect game by winning 11-6, 11-8, 11-7 in forty-five minutes, and showed no signs of fatigue from yesterday’s monster five-game match against Zaman,” said Andre Maur, tournament director.

“I’ve had a great week and I want to thank everyone for supporting me throughout the qualifying and main draw matches which has kept me focused,” said Malhotra.

“I’m looking forward to coming back next year and defending my title.”

For now, the world No. 277 returns to his post at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut.

The 2015 U.S. Pro Series calendar year ends with the Florida Open. The Tour resumes in 2016 with the women’s Liberty Bell Open in Berwyn, Pennsylvania, January 20-24.

Scotland’s world No. 34 won the seventh PSA Tour title of his career Saturday, defeating Mexico’s Arturo Salazar in the final of the U.S. Pro Series Racquet Club Pro Series at the Racquet Club of St. Louis in Missouri.

The fourth iteration of the tournament saw the prize money elevate from $10,000 in 2014 to $15,000 in 2015, drawing a high-caliber field of professionals to the gateway to the west.

While Clyne was predicted to reach the final as the top seed, the surprise of the tournament came in the form of unseeded Mexican Arturo Salazar, world no. 113, who forged a path to the final at the expense of American four seed Chris Hanson in the quarterfinals and English two seed Eddie Charlton in the semifinals.

Salazar, former world No. 36, proved to be a formidable challenge, forcing the favored Scotsman into a decisive fifth game in the final. Salazar earned a 6-1 lead in the fifth, but Clyne chipped away at the lead until pulling ahead 9-7. Two errors from the Mexican clinched the title for Clyne.

The RC Pro Series title is Clyne’s first U.S. Pro Series title, and first title in the United States since the Charleston Challenge in 2008.

Twenty-year-old Angus Gillams earned his first PSA Tour title Sunday, defeating fellow Englishman Anthony Graham in the final of the $5,000 U.S. Pro Series Madison Open Sunday at Madison Squash Workshop in Wisconsin.

Gilllams, world No. 103, entered the young draw seeded first, which he fulfilled by reaching the final only dropping one game along the way.

Graham, who played in his first PSA in Madison three years ago, was seeded fifth and upset second-seeded Reuben Phillips in the quarterfinals. Graham, world No. 201, then defeated eighteen-year-old Welshman Emyr Evans to reach his fourth career final.

Gillams commanded the final, taking the first two games 11-5, 11-8 before shutting out Graham 11-0 to win the title.

The 2015 Madison Open was the sixth edition of the tournament, and was organized by Damon Bourne and Jonas Laursen.

Madison Open Draw
U.S. Pro Series Live

While the world’s eyes turn to Seattle, Washington, this weekend for the 2015 Men’s World Championship, a group of upcoming professionals are in Madison, Wisconsin, to contest the $5,000 U.S. Pro Series Madison Open in search of valuable rankings points at Madison Squash Workshop to propel them to the world’s top stage.

An all-English final is predicted between top-seeded Angus Gillams, twenty years old and world No. 103, and two seed Rueben Phillips, twenty-three years old and world No. 124.

Gillams is seeded to meet another twenty-year-old Englishman, Alex Noakes, in the draw’s top half semifinal. Phillips is seeded to meet Cayman Islander Cameron Stafford, twenty-three years old, in the draw’s bottom half semifinal.

2014 Madison Open champion Todd Harrity does not to return to defend his title as the American world No. 61 enters World Championship qualifying in Seattle.

All matches are streaming and scoring live on U.S. Pro Series Live powered by 5 Nines and www.clublocker.com. Matches begin Thursday afternoon at 5:30pm local time, 6:30pm ET.

RC Pro Series Draw
U.S. Pro Series Live

Team USA’s Chris Hanson is set to contest the first of two PSA tournament’s this week Wednesday afternoon in St. Louis, Missouri, where the twenty-four-year-old is seeded fourth in the $15,000 U.S. Pro Series RC Pro Series Tournament at the Racquet Club of St. Louis.

Since competing in the 2014 RC Pro Series when he lost to Canadian Mike McCue, his first-round opponent Wednesday afternoon, the Dartmouth graduate has risen in the world rankings from world No. 175 to world No. 84.

McCue, world No. 117, holds a 2-0 record against Hanson, most recently defeating the American in the quarterfinals of the NSA Open this August.

Hanson is joined by American wild card Dylan Cunningham who takes on second-seeded Eddie Charlton Wednesday evening.

Scotland’s world No. 34 Alan Clyne leads the draw as the top seed, and is one of a number of players, including Hanson, who will make the trek to Seattle this weekend for the 2015 Men’s World Championship following the RC Pro Series.

Two recent U.S. Pro Series champions will face off in the first round in the bottom half of the draw. Mexico’s Arturo Salazar, who won the Life Time Fitness Minneapolis Open last weekend, and Jamaica’s Chris Binnie, who won the Securian Open last month.

Matches begin Wednesday at 12pm local time, 1pm ET. All matches are scoring live on U.S. Pro Series Live powered by www.clublocker.com.

Mexico’s Arturo Salazar won his first U.S. Pro Series title and first PSA World Tour title since 2011 this weekend in the form of the Life Time Fitness Minneapolis Open, PSA M10.

The 27-year-old came through a mammoth five-game-thriller against Clinton Leeuw, who upset top seed Declan James in the quarterfinals, in his semifinal, while Wales’ two seed Peter Creed saw off Sebastiaan Weenink to book his place in the final.

It was Creed who started the better of the two edging the opener 11-9. Salazar, former world No. 36 and current world No. 116, fought back to level the score at 1-1, and continued his momentum into the third, taking the game 11-4. Salazar continued to press in the fourth and final game to wrap up a 9-11, 11-5, 11-4, 11-2 victory to capture his seventh career PSA World Tour title.

The Minneapolis Open is part of the Life Time Fitness Grand Prix, which has seven touranments on the U.S. Pro Series calendar over the year. The final Life Time Fitness event of the year, the Betty Griffin Memorial Florida Open, takes place December 1-6 in Boca Raton.

The U.S. Pro Series resumes this weekend with two events, the RC Pro Series in St. Louis, Missouri, and the Madison Open in Wisconsin.

Result – Final: Life Time Fitness Minneapolis Open 2015
[5] Arturo Salazar (MEX) bt [2] Peter Creed (WAL) 3-1: 9-11, 11-5, 11-4, 11-2

Minneapolis Open Draw
U.S. Pro Series Live

England’s Declan James is aiming for his fifth consecutive PSA title, and second U.S. Pro Series title, as the top seed in the Life Time Fitness Minneapolis Open in Minnesota this weekend.

The world No. 43 is seeded to meet New Zealand’s Evan Williams, who recently reached the U.S. Pro Series Cleveland Skating Club Open semis, in the semifinals. Welsh two seed Peter Creed is predicted to meet James in the final.

James won his first U.S. Pro Series title in September, the Champion Fiberglass Open in Houston, Texas, and won the NASH Cup in Canada the following weekend. Minneapolis is James’ first PSA event since winning the Steel City Open title in England last month.

Faraz Khan is the sole American representation in Minneapolis, and will face third-seeded Williams in the first round.

Main draw play begins Thursday afternoon at Life Time Fitness Minneapolis at 5pm local time. All matches are scoring live on U.S. Pro Series Live powered by www.clublocker.com.