In Squash - The Podcast

We battled through some wifi issues, but this PSA World Championships recap was well worth the effort. Always a pleasure to have Ahad Raza break things down, as we take a close look at what led to the crowning of two first-ever world champions, Diego Elias and Nouran Gohar. We also take a quick look at the upcoming British Open. Check out our new sponsor, www.sunrise-courts.com along with www.opensquash.org.

Amr Khalifa's squash resume prior to leaving the pro game for other professional pursuits speaks for itself: 2010 World Junior Champion and 2014 US College Squash Individual Champion, and on both occasions he defeated current world #1 Ali Farag, in the final and semi-final of those prestigious events respectively. Amr is now Open Squash's Director of Squash at its Fidi location in NYC's financial district. We talk about his old rivalry with Ali Farag which dates back to their very early junior days, the influence of Amr Shabana, leaving the pro game, the Open Squash vision and much more.

Ep. 300, thought long and hard about this one, and at the end of the day, not a difficult choice at all. Rob Dinerman's pods have received critical acclaim since his first appearance 5 years back on ep. 20. It's no hyperbole to say he's gotten better with each ep and you don't want to miss this. Rob and I catch up a bit and then get into his two latest books, A History of Squash: Trinity College and his epic 100 Years of College Squash. We take deep dives into both, plus I'd have been remiss not to talk the pro doubles tour and how everything has played out till now this season. Incredible chat with Rob. You can find excerpts from all of Rob's books at www.robdinerman.com Also, don't forget to check out what's happening at Open Squash at www.opensquash.org

Another fantastic chat with Jesse Englebrecht who has fast become squash's resident mental game guru. We recently witnessed Siva Subramanium's unbelievable performance at the London Squash Classic and Jesse was in her corner preaching, mildly, the mental practices that they've been working on for the past little while. We talk about all of that plus I attempt to deep dive on squash and mental game, and Jesse obliges big time with some real, practical knowledge that you won't want to miss. Check out all the great stuff Jesse is doing with respect to the mental game at https://sportmind.io/ and also as we're all into making squash more accessible and affordable for everyone, check out the great things going on at Open Squash, www.opensquash.org

Luke Butterworth, for such a young man, has a coaching resume that is highly impressive. After a few years on the PSA tour, Luke has poured all his energy into the coaching game which sees him now as the US Junior National Team Head Coach. His coaching philosophy is something all coaches should aspire to, and Luke breaks all of that down along with his backstory and his early coaching influences, how his coaching has evolved over the years, and a great breakdown of the current US Junior national team. Also, please check out the great sponsor of this pod, www.opensquash.org, as they have several amazing summer camps on offer if you're in and around NYC.

Fresh off a magnificent runner up result at the German Open a few weeks back, Dimitri Steinmann is into the 2nd round at El Ghouna where he finds himself playing some of the best squash of his career. It's been a bit of personal battle for Dimitri though. Last October's US Open saw Dimitri get hit with an 8 week suspension for an incident during his match with Timmy Brownell. Dimitri talks about his current form, the unfortunate incident against Timmy in terms of what he learned and how he hopes to grow from the experience. We also talk about LA 28 and how he hopes to carry on the Olympic tradition for the Steinmann family. Great catching up with Dimitri and also great being a part of the Open Squash family where growing the game is the vision. Check out Open Squash at www.opensquash.org

Fresh off the biggest win of her career at the London Squash Classic and her highest ever world ranking of 13, Sivasangari Subramanium is making serious inroads towards the very top of the game. Wins over world #1 Nour El Sherbini and World #2 Hania El Hammamy will no doubt give her that self-belief that perhaps has eluded her in the past. As many of you know, in June 2022 Siva was involved in a serious car accident that sidelined her for seven months, but as we talk about on the pod that time rehabbing also allowed her to reevaluate things and she's come back playing the best squash of her career. We talk about all of this on EP. 296 Also, don't forget to keep up with how to grow the game at www.opensquash.org

US squash had a comparatively low profile globally in the 80s and early 90s. This has without question changed dramatically as they without question lead the way globally and always seem poised to take on new initiatives domestically which translate at a global scale. Kevin Klipstein has led this charge for the past 20 years, and this December marks his 20 year anniversary as CEO and President of US Squash. Kevin talks about his squash backstory and how he eventually took over as US Squash CEO. We also look at two major moments that he and US Squash contributed to, LA 28 and the Specter Center (US National Team Training Center). We also talk growing the game, Team US and his expectation and much more. Great chat with the CEO. In terms of growing the game, check out the great stuff going on at Open Squash, www.opensquash.org

Satomi Watanabe made Japanese squash history becoming the first Japanese player, male or female, to win a PSA event of the magnitude of the Optasia Squash Championships. It can be said that Satomi burst onto the PSA scene last season with several epic performances, but those in the know, including Jonah Barrington, had her pegged early on for what we've seen of late. Satomi along with her coach Tiago Goriely talk about her first big PSA win, what it took to get there, and what it's going to take to capitalize on this momentum and take it to the next level. We also take a look at her backstory, which includes her connection with Sivasangari Subramanium which dates back to the early junior days in Malaysia. Don't forget to check out our sponsor Open Squash and www.opensquash.org where you can check out all of their tremendous game growth initiatives.

Simon Parke, former British National Champion and world #3, played through several of the most intriguing eras of squash including the Jansher Khan era as well as the early days of the Power/Nicol rivalry. Simon talks about how he sees the game today and in doing so I selfishly request that he reflect back on his time on court which for me is a kid in a candy store scenario. We also talk about his recent and upcoming SquashTV duties which includes the Squash in Land event in Cleveland and the PSA's return to Egypt with Blackball. Great chat and check out what it means to grow the game at www.opensquash.org

The University of Pennsylvania won its first ever US Collegiate Squash National Championship (Potter Cup) a few weeks back with head coach Gilly Lane leading the way for the Quakers. Gilly talks about the big win and how some ups and downs this season and in recent seasons laid the groundwork. We also talk about his maturity as coach, butting heads each week with some of the games greats, how the college game compares to his days as a player while at Penn and much more.

For the past 15 years, the game of professional squash has been synonymous with the name Joey Barrington. Joey has been the lead commentator and face of PSA Squash TV for close to 15 years, and it goes without saying part of squash royalty, the son of living legend Jonah Barrington. Joey's youthful exuberance combined with incredible squash IQ is on display whenever he takes the mic, and it certainly brushes off on the stellar co commentating team Squash TV assembles for each event. Joey takes a look back at the early Squash TV days, the exciting men's and women's finals at Optasia, the upcoming London Squash Classic and this summer's JB PJ elite junior squash camps at the storied squash facility of Millfield School.

Squash's inclusion in the LA 28 Olympic Games has ignited an even greater fire within the squash community towards growing the game. This June alongside the British Open in Birmingham, the PSA Foundation Squash Summit will take place bringing together squash minds from across the board to discuss the way forward for our great game. Adriana Olaya is the Head of the PSA Foundation and she breaks it all down on Ep. 290.

Jethro Binns and the crew at SquashSkills were the first to go all in on a one-stop-shop for squash coaching for the entire squash community. Since then, he continues his effort to find the next innovation along those lines, and Jethro comes on to bring us up to speed in terms of Squash Levels, LevelTech and the DoubleDot AI Squash Coach. The fire burns like never before and we discuss these and other projects that we can look forward to. Check out Squash Levels at https://www.squashlevels.com/home, LevelTech at https://leveltech.io/ and our tremendous sponsor Open Squash at www.opensquash.org

After decades of failed Olympic bids, squash reached the promised land back in October of last year with its successful LA 2028 bid, thus injecting a newfound positive momentum that our game desperately needed. WSF President Zena Wooldridge talks about this historic moment for squash and what it means for the future of our great game. We talk about the bid itself, how the stars seemed to align, the WSF team and how they are knuckling down with their long term vision. In terms of growing the game, check all the great things the WSF is working towards at www.worldsquash.org as well as the sponsor of this podcast Open Squash at www.opensquash.org

The Canadian Open kicks off on March 3rd at a squash venue that has taken the city of Calgary by storm, the Bow Valley Athletic Club. Connor Turk is the head squash pro at BVAC, and it's great to finally get him on the pod. Son of Canadian squash legend Gene Turk, Connor's backstory is obviously an interesting one. We talk about Bow Valley, the Canadian Open and his first round match, growing up the son of Gene Turk and uncle Billy, and much more. Check our sponsor www.opensquash.org and also drop a donation to the pod via the paypal link :) . Great Chat!!!

RJ Mitchell has produced some of the finest squash journalism that we've seen in past few years during his tenure with Squash Mad. He's recently moved on to take up a new and exciting post with Squash Player Magazine, their new website in particular, which was recently taken over by the PSA. RJ and I discuss the excitement of the PSA tour this season and then he takes us into what we can look forward to on the soon to be unveiled Squash Player website. Please check out our great sponsor www.opensquash.org where growing the game and making it accessible to one and all is the OpenSquash mission.

We're back ! Episode 285 and our new segment, the monthly whip around kicks off with AR Proformance's Ahad Raza who will join me each month for a look at the pro game and then some. Many thanks to our Sponsor Open Squash and you can check them out at www.opensquash.org

Declan James made his return to the PSA tour last week in Qatar after being sidelined for 9 months due to a ruptured Achilles suffered in November of last year. Declan talks about how that all went down, and the perseverance, patience and self-belief it took to get him back to PSA playing shape once again. We also look back at his 2022 Commonwealth Games gold medal winning performance alongside doubles partner James Willstrop, and much much more.

Nick Matthew is without question one of the greats of the game. His accomplishments at the highest level are impressive: Former World #1, 3X British Open and World Open champion, and that's the abridged version. Nick and I look back at a very special title, his 2006 British Open win. We also talk about the Nicol/Power generation which welcomed him to the tour, the special talent of Ramy Ashour, Mostafa Asal's situation, and of course his thoughts on the US Open. Check out our sponsor Open Squash at www.opensquash.org for all of their exciting growing the game initiatives.