Coach Michael is making a brief homefaring trip to Ireland to play in the Irish Nationals. Conducted at the legendary Fitzwilliam LTC (one of the oldest clubs in the world), play starts on February 6 with the final on February 9. Not only is Michael competing but his sister Hannah is also in contention. For those of you not familiar, Hannah is Harvard grad and currently ranked 68 in the world… talented family!
Good luck to both Craigs and we’ll be following the live stream back at the club!
The College Squash Association conducted their annual Individual Championships in New York. From a Tiger perspective the most important result was Maryam winning the west bracket of the B-Division Holleran Cup. Always one of our hardest workers, it was awesome to see her win four big matches.
In regular season CSA matches we should give shout outs to Will at Bowdoin who’s been holding down the mid-order and enjoying good success, similarly Adam at Fordham and Anika at Tufts. Miss them all and look forward to their next visit back to the club.
Our second Rehearsal Tournament of the year was appropriately named after Robbie Burns, the Scottish National Bard who is celebrated each year on January 25. As everyone (?) would be aware, apart from being the Scottish Bard, he is best known for writing the New Year’s best known anthem, “Auld Lang Syne”, making him everyone’s second favorite Scottish person… notably after Coach Claire!
We welcomed Coach Huma to the club from our soon to open Philly club, and he joined Michael on court in our Premier Division. As usual players from all over descended upon Squash Tigers and in addition to our teaching pro’s we had everyone from JCT players through to competition novices; there was something for everyone. The skill, sportsmanship and friendship that have become the hallmark of our Rehearsal Tournament Series was well in evidence! For the photo dump, check out our Facebook Page!
For those of you new to the Squash Tigers world, as background, Rehearsal Tournaments are:
“ … in-house events conducted at SQUASHTIGERS! For the 2023-24 season (Sep 2023 thru May 2024), the Rehearsal Tournament Series comprises 9 tournament events. The Rehearsal Tournament Circuit attracts entries from top juniors. It also provides a great home for beginners to gain rehearsal before they step out into the US Squash ranking world. Players play a minimum of three matches on a Saturday, commencing first thing and concluding early afternoon. The event does not count towards rating or ranking, so players may be relaxed enough to develop their games in a friendly environment, yet serious enough so that they will be ready for the wider world when they get out there!
Premier Division saw Coach Michael and Coach Huma give the bracket a “run around”, with Dhruv the top finisher amongst the players. Shout outs to Julian, Alison and Harry for some great efforts and a solid morning of matches!
D1 saw Ava dominate in a series of 3/0 matches, solid contests all, but there was clearly only one winner! Sara showing some great improvement in her performances was the silver medalist, with Dennis and Angelina rounding out the draw.
Division 2 was played on the glass today, with long and hard fought matches. Riya played well throughout and defeated the ever improving Serena in the final. Yaseen beat out Bradley for the bronze after Bradley had several virtual marathons! Riyanshi played some of her best squash, with Vivi, Ari and Leo rounding out the bracket.
Division 3 was the closest and most hard fought bracket, with very few 3/0 victories! When the dust settled, Aksh won his first event, the first of many we hope, with Princeton and Yashil making up the podium. The bracket finished with Lily and Evan, always being their hard working and vivacious selves. Overall D3 played hard, learned a lot and showed a great morning of work under the tutelage of the ever patient Coach Ebonie.
Overall a day that had something for everyone, from the professional skills of Coach Michael and Coach Huma who showed the players all four corners of the court, along to our Gold Tournament standard players preparing for the Philly Gold in two weeks, to our neophytes who gained both confidence and experience to make that next step. Thank you as always to Coach Claire for her masterful construction of draws and kind leadership as Tournament Director.
Heads up to our Rehearsal Tournament crew that our next event is not until March, as the February US Squash circuit is “silly busy”! For our regular Squash Tiger crew, see you at training - the first Lob Week of 2025 incoming!
