Search here...
Home Blog Page 93

Columbia’s Khalifa Wins 2017 Men’s Individual Championship

Michael T. Bello
-
0

Columbia UniversityHanover, NH — Osama Khalifa of Columbia defeated Mario Yanez of Rochester 3-0 to win the 2017 Pool Trophy and the men’s individual national title.

Both players have had decorated collegiate squash careers.  Khalifa, a junior, is a two-time First Team All American, the 2015 Ivy League rookie of the year, and the 2016 Ivy League Player of the Year. Yanez, a senior, is a three-time First Team All-American and three-time All Liberty League player.

Khalifa reached the finals of the 2015 tournament, when he was a first-year player. In that match, Khalifa went out to a two-game lead before losing in five to Ahmed Abdel Khalek of Bates. In 2016, he played with an injured back and lost in the quarterfinals to Yanez, who subsequently lost in the semifinals to teammate Ryosei Kobayashi,

This year, Khalifa came into the tournament as the top seed. His path to the final included wins over Bransten Ming (Drexel), Ahmed Hatata (Bates), and Thoboki Mohohlo (Trinity). To reach the final, Yanez defeated TJ Dembinski (Yale), upset second-seed Mohamed El Gawarhy (St. Lawrence), and beat Gawahry’s teammate Ahmed Bayoumy.

In the first game of today’s final, Khalifa built up an 8-0 lead before Yanez posted his sole point of the game. The Columbia junior put on a dominating performance, winning the game 11-1.

The second game was closer. While the Rochester senior showed some fatigue from the previous night’s semifinal, Khalifa played with ease. The second game went 11-6 to Khalifa.

At 4-9 in the third, Yanez dove and crashed into the back corner, trying everything to get points. He couldn’t stop Khalifa, who took the game and match 11-5.

Khalifa’s win represents the first-ever national squash championship for Columbia. At Columbia he is coached by Jacques Swanepoel, the Kenneth W. Torrey Head Coach of Squash, and assistants Joanne Schickerling and Alister Walker.

 

2017 College Squash Individual Championships: Day 2 Evening Report

Michael T. Bello
-
0

College Squash AssociationHanover, NH — The finals for the Ramsay Cup and Pool Trophy are set, as are all the B division finals. Reeham Sedky (Penn) and Georgina Kennedy (Harvard) will play for the Ramsay Cup, and Osama Khalifa (Columbia) and Mario Yanez (Rochester) will play for the Pool Trophy.

Ramsay Cup (Women’s A Division): Every player in the Ramsay Cup semifinals had competed in the Howe Cup team final a week before, with Kayley Leonard and Georgina Kennedy representing champion Harvard, and Reeham Sedky and Marie Stephan playing for runner-up Penn. Last week, Leonard and Stephan dueled through a grueling five-game match; this week, they faced new opponents: Leonard played top-seeded Sedky, and Stephan played Kennedy, the number 2 seed.

Sedky, the runner-up in last year’s Ramsay Cup final, was down 8-10 in the first game against Leonard and came back to win the game. She went on to win the next two games in a  physical, let- and stroke-filled contest. The second semifinal was much calmer in comparison. Kennedy won in three games, using a lot of boasts and hustle to win the final game.

Sedky and Kennedy will play for the Ramsay Cup at 1:30 pm tomorrow.

Women’s B Division: 

North: Margaux Losty (Cornell) and Alex Toth (Princeton) will play in the B North final. Losty defeated Luca Polgar (Bates) in four, and Toth won over Jacqueline Barnes (Dartmouth), who retired in the third.

South: Alyssa Mehta of Harvard, who clinched the Crimson’s national title last weekend, won her semifinal match against Gabriella Garr (Princeton) in three games. Zandra Ho of Stanford, who won her draw last year, reached her second consecutive B division final with a four-game win over Jennifer Haley (Trinity).

East: Trinity’s Lakeesha Rarere and Columbia’s Madlen O’Connor advanced to the Holleran East final. Both players won their semifinals in four games: Rarere defeated Quincy Beck (Brown), and O’Connor defeated Sam Chai (Princeton).

West: Ryan Morgan (Drexel) won 13-11 in the fourth to advance to the final with a win over Morgan Steelman (Princeton). Colette Sultana (Columbia) won in three over Sarah Bell (Stanford).

Pool Trophy (Men’s A Division): Mario Yanez of Rochester was the only 2016 individual semifinalist still standing after the quarterfinals, but he was hardly the only player with experience deep into the Pool Trophy draw. In the 2015 tournament, Osama Khalifa of Columbia reached the finals, and Ahmed Bayoumy of St. Lawrence won the consolation final after falling in the first round. Trinity’s Thoboki Mohohlo, a first-year player, was the lone newcomer to Pool Trophy play.

In the first semifinal, Khalifa started conservative, while Mohohlo played aggressively, as if he had nothing to lose. Khalifa won the first and third games, while Mohohlo won the second. The dramatic fourth game saw play stoppage due to blood, broken strings, and extra points. Khalifa won the game 13-11  to earn a spot in his second Pool Trophy final. Yanez and Bayoumy played a competitive four-setter. Yanez jumped up to a 2-0 lead in games. In the third game, Bayoumy struck Yanez, breaking his eye-guards. Yanez borrowed a teammate’s equipment, but Bayoumy took the game. In the fourth, Bayoumy experienced both a nose bleed and cramping, and after much discussion, play resumed, and Yanez won the match.

Khalifa and Yanez will play for the Pool Trophy at 12:30 pm tomorrow.

Men’s B Division: 

North: Lawrence Kuhn (Rochester) defeated Michael Thompson (Drexel) in three games to advance to the final. Kuhn will play Yale’s Spencer Lovejoy, who won in four over Carson Spahr (Dartmouth).

South: Moustafa Bayoumy (St. Lawrence) advanced to the final with a four-game win over Andy Muran (Cornell). Jamie Oakley (George Washington) won 11-9 in the fifth over Gabriel Morgan (Princeton) to secure his spot in the final.

East: It took extra points, but Trinity’s Affeeq Ismail won 13-11 in the fifth to win his semifinal over Harry Freeman (Cornell). Ricardo Lopez (Rochester) defeated Shehab Thabet (Princeton) in three games in the other East semifinal.

West: Tomotaka Endo of Rochester, who won his B draw last year, advanced to another final with a three-game win over Omar Alluadin (Trinity). Belal Nawar (St. Lawrence) made it an all-Liberty League final by defeating Oisin Logan (George Washington) in four.

2017 College Squash Individual Championships: Day 2 Afternoon Report

Michael T. Bello
-
0

College Squash AssociationHanover, NH — On a frigid day in New Hampshire, play continued at the 2017 College Squash Association Individual Championships.

Ramsay Cup (Women’s A Division): Penn’s Reeham Sedky continued her march toward the Ramsay Cup this afternoon with a three-game victory over Yale’s Jenny Scherl. In the opposing quarterfinal, Kayley Leonard, a semifinalist last season, advanced in four games over Princeton’s Olivia Fiechter.

Penn’s Marie Stephan is looking to make it an all Penn final. She advanced in three games over Trinity’s Raneem Sharaf. Georgina Kennedy (Harvard) ended Yale’s Lucy Beecroft’s run with a three-game victory.

This afternoon’s semifinals will feature Sedky facing Leonard and Stephan meeting Kennedy.

Women’s B Division: In the Holleran North, the following players advanced in the main draw: Margaux Losty (Cornell), Luca Polgar (Bates), Jacqueline Barnes (Dartmouth), and Alexandra Toth (Princeton).

Play for the main South, East, and West draws is underway.

Pool Trophy (Men’s A Division): This season’s Pool Trophy is arguably the deepest in the history of the tournament. In the quarterfinals, Columbia’s Osama Khalifa advanced with a 3-0 win against Bates’ Ahmed Hatata. Rochester’s Ryosei Kobayashi, this season’s Skillman Award winner and the finalist in the Pool Trophy last season, faced Trinity’s Thoboki Mohohlo in the opposing quarterfinal. After losing the first game, Mohohlo captured the final three games to end the illustrious collegiate career of Kobayashi.

In a match that seemed like it would never end, St. Lawrence’s Ahmed Bayoumy won a five-game contest against Harvard’s Saadeldin Abouaish. Rochester’s Mario Yanez, a semifinalist last season, rallied from a 1-2 game deficit against St. Lawrence’s Mohamed El Gawarhy to enter this season’s semifinals.

The semifinals begin at 3:45 PM. Khalifa will face Mohohlo, and Bayoumy will take on Yanez.

Men’s B Division: In the Molloy North, the following players advanced in the main draw: Spencer Lovejoy (Yale), Carson Spahr (Dartmouth), MIchael Thompson (Drexel), and Lawrence Kuhn (Rochester).

Play for the main South, East, and West draws is underway.

 

2017 College Squash Individual Championships: Day 1 Report

Michael T. Bello
-
0

College Squash AssociationHanover, NH — The first day of individuals is complete.

Ramsay Cup (Women’s A Division): Top-seed and last season’s Ramsay Cup finalist Reeham Sedky (Penn) advanced with a 3-0 victory over Stanford’s Casey Wong. 2016 semifinalist Kayley Leonard (Harvard) also advanced with 3-0 win against 2017 Richey Award winner Breanne Flynn (George Washington). Princeton’s Olivia Fiechter defeated the other remaining 2016 semifinalist, Wesleyan’s Laila Samy.

The following players advanced: Reeham Sedky (Penn), Jenny Scherl (Yale), Olivia Fiechter (Princeton), Kayley Leonard (Harvard), Raneem Sharaf (Trinity), Marie Stephan (Penn), Lucy Beecroft (Yale), and Georgina Kennedy (Harvard)

Women’s B Division: The winners of each of the four Holleran Cup draws earn 2nd Team All-American honors. Please note that several players had byes in the opening round of the tournament.

In the Holleran North Draw, the following players won to advance out of the first round: Mary Fung-a-Fat (Drexel), Jui Kalgutkar (Columbia), Luca Polgar (Bates), Jacqueline Barnes (Dartmouth), Madison Soukup (Princeton), and Kate Feeley (Princeton).

In the Holleran South Draw, the following players advanced: Eleonore Evans (Harvard), Gabriella Garr (Princeton), Anne Blasberg (Dartmouth), and Tara Shannon (Princeton).

In the Holleran East Draw, the following players advanced: Anna Hughes (Drexel), Quincy Beck (Brown), Hayley Hughes (Drexel), Samantha Chai (Princeton), Beatrijs Kuijpers (Middlebury), Kira Keating (Princeton), and Madlen O’Connor (Columbia).

In the Holleran West Draw, the following players advanced: Ryan Morgan (Drexel), Madiha Molani (Colby), Isabel Hirshberg (Princeton), Sarah Bell (Stanford), Colette Sultana (Columbia), and Sue Ann Yong (Harvard).

Pool Trophy (Men’s A Division): Osama Khalifa (Columbia), the top-seed in this year’s tournament, began his quest for the Pool Trophy with a 3-0 victory over Drexel’s Bransten Ming. Dartmouth’s Alvin Heumann, buoyed by an enthusiastic hometown crowd, took second-seeded Mohamed El Gawarhy (St. Lawrence), to five games; El Gawarhy won 11-6 in the fifth. Ahmed Hatata continued Bates’ streak against Rick Penders (Trinity) — who fell last year in the semifinals to eventual 2016 winner Ahmed Abdel Khalek — by winning in four.

The following players advanced: Osama Khalifa (Columbia), Ahmed Hatata (Bates), Thoboki Mohohlo (Trinity), Ryosei Kobayashi (Rochester), Saadeldin Abouaish (Harvard), Ahmed Bayoumy (St. Lawrence), Mario Yanez (Rochester), and Mohamed El Gawarhy (St. Lawrence).

Men’s B Division: The winners of each of the four Molloy Cup draws earn 2nd Team All-American honors.

In the Molloy North Draw, the following players advanced: Spencer Lovejoy (Yale), Samuel Epley (Dartmouth), Jack Herold (Navy), Carson Spahr (Dartmouth), Hayes Murphy (Penn), Lawrence Kuhn (Rochester), Chris Hart (Wesleyan), and Michael Thompson (Drexel).

In the Molloy South Draw, the following players advanced: Moustafa Bayoumy (St. Lawrence), Owen Davis (Navy), Cody Cortes (Princeton), Andrew Muran (Cornell), Gabriel Morgan (Princeton), David Yacobucci (Penn), Thomas Blecher (Brown), and Jamie Oakley (George Washington)

In the Molloy East Draw, the following players advanced: Harry Freeman (Cornell) James Watson (Penn) Jamie Ruggiero (Williams), Affeeq Ismail (Trinity), Tom De Mulder (Trinity), Shebab Thabet (Princeton), Matthew Toth (Rochester), and Ricardo Lopez (Rochester).

In the Molloy West Draw, the following players advanced: Tomotaka Endo (Rochester), Mahmoud Yousry (Bates), Omar Allaudin (Trinity), Tripp Kaelin (Yale), Oisin Logan (George Washington), Arjun Kochhar (Yale), Wyatt French (Middlebury), and Belal Nawar (St. Lawrence)

College Squash Takes Steps to Strengthen Governance

CSA
-
0

College Squash AssociationNew York, NY — The Women’s and Men’s College Squash Associations (CSA) recently announced their memberships have both voted to dissolve and re-form as one College Squash Association. The new CSA will have a smaller Board of nine individuals, the majority of whom will be independent directors while four coaches will still serve as directors on the Board. The current associations are each governed by Executive Committees of college varsity men’s, women’s or combined men’s and women’s coaches exclusively.

Women’s CSA President Wendy Lawrence welcomed the transition, noting, “I am so excited that the Men’s and Women’s CSA have taken this dramatic and forward thinking step to merge. The time has come to move college squash forward, to professionalize our governing body so that the sport can attract new teams, and one day, look to join the NCAA.”

Martin Heath, Men’s CSA President added, “After much thought, consultation, preparation and communication over the past 18 months, it’s an historic decision to merge into one new organization complete with new By-laws and a proposed board comprised of members of the squash community alongside current college coaches. While there won’t be any noticeable optical change in the short term, these changes protect the integrity of the college game, and will allow us to professionalize our organization, hopefully with full time employees, and will set up a platform for growing the college game throughout the nation and throughout the different divisions.”

The dissolution and re-formation will formally take place at the next CSA Annual General Meeting planned for mid-May, where it is expected the member institutions will elect a full slate of new directors. The process to consider these governance changes, including a series of six related conference calls among coaches and an independent Task Force over the last three months, also included the completion of a new set of By-laws with an updated committee structure, and has been coordinated with the support of US Squash. The current CSA – US Squash partnership in which US Squash provides administrative support for financial and event management is expected to continue, with US Squash initially serving as fiscal sponsor to the new organization.

Heath continued, “It is an exciting time, and we are very grateful for the work that Dent Wilkens has performed for us over the past few years and now in Kevin Klipstein’s expertise in guiding the process and using his experience to help draft our new By-laws. We look forward to increasing our partnership with US Squash, while still retaining coach autonomy.”

The CSA leadership may be reached via email to express interested in supporting this new direction.
Martin Heath: mheath@sports.rochester.edu and Wendy Lawrence: wendyl@email.gwu.edu

2016 – 2017 College Squash Individual Championship Information

Michael T. Bello
-
0

Hanover, NH — Below is information about the 2016 – 2017 College Squash Individual Championships.

Draws: Here is a link to the 2016 -2017 College Squash Individual Draws (draws will be populated once they are completed).

Championship Final Times:

  • Pool Trophy (Men’s A Draw): Sunday, 12:30 PM
  • Ramsay Cup (Women’s A Draw): Sunday, 1:30 PM
  • Holleran Cup (Women’s B Draw) Finals: Sunday 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM
  • Molloy Cup (Men’s B Draw) Finals: Sunday 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM

Location: For detailed directions to Dartmouth College, please visit the Dartmouth Athletic website or visit Google Maps.

Live Scoring: Real-time match results will be available throughout the weekend using Live Scores on ClubLocker.com.

Withdrawals: If any players plan to withdraw, coaches should send that information to the tournament director, Dent Wilkens, immediately. There are waitlists for both women and men, and timely withdrawals of players give these players the opportunity to travel and compete.

Match Times: Matches will begin at 12:00 PM on Friday morning.

# of Players Per School: For the Men’s and Women’s Individual Championships, each varsity school is guaranteed one (1) entry.

Draw Types: The A flights of the men’s (Pool Trophy) and women’s (Ramsay Cup) individual championships will be 16-person draws.

For both the men’s and women’s individual championships, players seeded 17th – 80th will be divided into four draws (North, South, East, and West).

Players will be guaranteed a minimum of two matches.

Refereeing: Winners and losers of matches will be required to referee a match during the next scheduled match time.

Parking for Teams and Coaches: Teams and coaches will given permits for parking in the Thompson Lot. Team buses should park in Lot 9 after they drop off people at the courts.

Parking for Parents and Spectators: Parents and spectators should park on the streets of Hanover.  There is plenty of on-street parking in Hanover, and spots will always be available in a roughly 5-minute walking distance radius.

Food: The Dartmouth College area is filled with great restaurants.

College Squash Rewind (February 2017)

Michael T. Bello
-
0

Hatfield, MA — Before we turn our attention to the 2017 College Squash Association Individual Championships, let’s look back at the articles from February.

Don’t forget to follow the College Squash Association on Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube for more great coverage of college squash.

The editorial staff is always looking for story ideas, articles, photos, or videos, and we encourage coaches and players to submit content. Our goal is to provide coverage of all levels of college squash throughout the United States. Please feel free to contact the editorial staff.

Many thanks go to the College Squash Association’s sponsors and partners:

  • Harrow Sports (Official Equipment Supplier) – Harrow provides custom school equipment;
  • Dunlop Sports (Official Ball Supplier) – Dunlop balls are used in all team and individual matches;
  • US Squash (Partner)  – US Squash provides dual match tracking software and organizes the CSA’s three national championships; and
  • mtbello.com (Partner) – mtbello.com provides squash photography to the CSA.

If companies are interested in sponsoring or advertising on the College Squash Association website, please visit the Advertise/Sponsor page.

Here are the articles from February 2017:

2017 Women’s Award Winners Announced

Michael T. Bello
-
0

Princeton, NJ — The winners of the 2017 Richey and Chaffee Awards were announced on the final day of the Women’s National Team Championships, which were held over the weekend at Princeton University.

Richey Award: The Richey Award is given annually to the women’s college squash player who best exemplifies the ideals of squash in her love of and devotion to the game, her strong sense of fairness, and her excellence of play and leadership. The 2017 Richey Award was presented to George Washington’s Breanne Flynn.

Chaffee Award: The Chaffee Award is given annually to a women’s coach whose team has demonstrated the qualities of sportsmanship, teamwork, character, and improvement. The 2017 Chaffee Award was presented to Middlebury and head coach Mark Lewis.

CollegeSquashAssociation.com will have more in-depth coverage of the awards after the championship season concludes.

Congratulations to the winners of the 2017 Women’s College Squash Association annual awards!

Harvard Wins 2017 Women’s National Team Championship

Michael T. Bello
-
0

Princeton, NJ — Harvard University defeated the University of Pennsylvania to win the Howe Cup and the 2017 national title. Today’s final was a rematch of the 2016 final between the Crimson and the Quakers.

Coming into the tournament, it looked like Harvard’s title to lose. The two-time defending national champions had gone undefeated in the regular season, winning the Ivy League title along the way. Indeed, the Crimson hadn’t lost a match since January 2015, when they lost 4-5 on the road to Penn. This season, Harvard’s closest match was a 7-2 victory over the Quakers. Six of the nine contests that day had gone past three games, with four matches going to five games, giving Penn a possible route to a victory.

Coming into the tournament, Harvard was seeded first overall and Penn, who had only had the one loss to Harvard, was seeded second. The Crimson powered through the first two rounds, dispatching Columbia 9-0 and Princeton 8-1. Penn had opened the weekend by sweeping Cornell, but they played a marathon semifinal against Trinity. The two teams were tied through the last match on court, and Penn took the 5-4 win.

Harvard had been dominant during the regular season and had had the easier trip in the semifinals. The Quakers, however, had some history on their side. The last two times Princeton hosted the Howe Cup, Harvard lost the final 4-5 in dramatic fashion, to Yale in 2011 and to Trinity in 2014.  Could it be Penn’s turn for a dramatic upset?

It didn’t take long to find out.

In the first round of the final, the match-ups were senior co-captain Dileas MacGowan (Harvard) versus Lindsay Stanley (Penn) at number 9, Michelle Wong (Penn) versus Katie Tutrone (Harvard) at number 6, and Kayley Leonard (Harvard) versus Marie Stefan (Penn) at number 3. The two Harvard seniors on court gave their team an early lead: MacGowan won in three games, and Tutrone claimed  her match 13-11 in the fourth. Leonard and Stephan battled through five games, with Leonard saving multiple match balls to win 12-10 in the fifth, giving Harvard a 3-0 lead.

The second round pairings were senior co-captain Grace van Arkel (Penn) versus Sophie Mehta (Harvard) at number 8, Alyssa Mehta (Harvard) versus Jessica Davis (Penn) at number 5, and co-captain Mélissa Alves (Penn) versus Gina Kennedy (Harvard) at number 2. Sophie Mehta won in three games to bring Harvard within a match of the national title. Alyssa Mehta dropped her first game to Davis, but the Harvard junior powered through the next three games, taking the match with a convincing 11-2 win in the fourth. It had taken just five individual matches for Harvard to win their 17th national title, tying Princeton for the most team championships.

Play continued even after the national title had been decided. Alves won her match against Kennedy. The third round match-ups were Sue Ann Yong (Harvard) versus Rowaida Walid Attia (Penn) at number 7, Anaka Alankamony (Penn) versus Amelia Henley at number 4, and Sabrina Sobhy (Harvard) versus Reeham Sedky Salah (Penn) at number 1. Yong and Henley both won their matches, and Sobhy and Salah played a thrilling match a number 1, with the Penn sophomore winning 12-10 in the fourth.

The final score was Harvard 7, Penn 2.

The Crimson are coached by Mike Way, the Gregory Lee ’87 and Russell Ball ’88 Endowed Coach for Harvard University, and assistants Luke Hammond and Hameed Ahmed. MacGowan and Caroline Monrad are co-captains.

 

 

 

 

1...929394...417Page 93 of 417

About the CSA

The College Squash Association (CSA) is the governing body overseeing all intercollegiate varsity squash in the United States. The CSA is a subsidiary of and supported by U.S. Squash, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization

CSA

Quick Access

Join our Mailing List

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP

© 2025 College Squash Association. All Rights Reserved.