2019 Canary Wharf Media Member Squash Champion and writer for Squash Player Magazine, Mike Dale takes us into the backstory of "Don't Turn a Blind Eye" (http://www.squashplayer.co.uk/es_newspage2.asp?Key=1886) where he lost vision in his right eye on the squash court after accidentally being struck with the ball. Mike soldiered on, continuing his passion for the game which ultimately led to winning last year's Media Member division at Canary Wharf. We talk about his title defense, the use of eye...
Mar 09, 2020•52 min
2020 Tournament of Champions winner, 11 X French National and European Team Championship winner are just a few of the 2019/20 accolades that Camille Serme has recently placed on her mantel. Currently ranked 3 in the world, her upward trajectory is heading towards the world's #1 spot, and that's exactly where her sites are set.
Feb 23, 2020•29 min
Squash Stories has grown into a community that squash has embraced; it's almost akin to joining your friends at the bar or for a bite after a match and talking squash and anything revolving around our great game. Behind this...Jamie Maddox. Jamie and I catch up while watching the Fallows-Waller British Nationals quarter final, and it's a great laugh, mostly at our own expense. Seriously though, we talk the evolution of Squash Stories, his love for the Shorbagy brothers, officiating, the pro game...
Feb 18, 2020•1 hr 20 min
Former world number 6 and multi-time French national, Mathieu Castagnet still has plenty left in the tank at the game's highest level. Mathieu has wins over several world #1s including the likes of Ali Farag, Mohamed El Shorbagy and Nick Matthew, and he's got his sites set moving back up the PSA rankings. Mathieu talks about his game, his break through events, the French General, the current state of French squash and the Selby/Castagnet squash Gif that has gone viral.
Feb 11, 2020•40 min
Pro squash officiating must be right up there with the most challenging officiating gigs in pro sport. John Massarella is without question the game's go to official, and he attributes his rise as the game's top official to a passion for it that he acquired early on. John provides a masterclass breakdown on a number of topics in this great chat including the movement towards a more free-flowing, let-free game which has resulted in recent "changes" in decisions on lets and strokes. He also gets in...
Feb 01, 2020•57 min
United States Olympic Committee National Coach of the Year Alex Stait humbly picked up this impressive piece of hardware at this year's US Open, but as understated as he may sound the honor is very well deserved. Coaching America's unheralded 2018 boys to a bronze medal finish at the World junior teams was nothing less than impressive, and he's had great success with Agnes Irwin high school girls who are currently ranked 2 in the nation. Alex's budding pro career ended far too soon at the age of...
Jan 28, 2020•54 min
US squash collegiate and pro game standout Gilly Lane had a prolific playing career, and he's managed to parlay that into a very successful coaching career on the US varsity squash scene with the Penn Quakers. Gilly's squash story is one of passion, hard-work, perseverance and ultimately success; we can all learn a lot from Gilly's story in terms of how to go about reaching our potential as players and thereafter passing on that knowledge to the next generation.
Jan 10, 2020•55 min
The PSA and Squash TV can only be delighted having Aisling Blake as a mainstay on their squash commentary these days. Former Irish National Champion, European Team Championship runner-up for Ireland and World #21, Aisling adds incredible color and expertise to the already talented Squash TV cast of characters. Aisling's story is brimmed with experiences that we can all learn from as squash players, including a heartfelt look back at her Irish National Championship in 2013 and what it was like to...
Jan 04, 2020•1 hr 3 min
Academic research on the performance of squash's elite players is about as common as finding squash reporting in the mainstream media; limited at best. Neil Gibson's research entitled "Physical Preparation for Elite Level Squash Players", is a sight for sore eyes and breathes new life into how we go about our training, particularly with respect to the high intensity, 80-90% of max heart rate that comes with playing squash at an elite level. Neil does a great job of laying this out for us and giv...
Dec 30, 2019•55 min
The French General is back! Close to 16 months away from the competitive game, and Gregory is chomping at the bit to get back into the swing of things. He knows he's not going to hit the ground sprinting, but he's fired up to get back to the top of the game, which is where he left us in Oct. 2018. Gregory is Washington D.C. for the World Team Championships along with the rest of a very talented and hungry French squad, and then it's off to the TOC in NYC for his long awaited PSA return. Enjoy th...
Dec 14, 2019•26 min
Sleep, eat and breathe squash; that's Ehsan's advice to us all. Ep 115 is unlike any other, and say what you want about this guy, there's no questioning his dedication and love for the game of squash. Ehsan has had a squash journey like none other, from his backyard training to his "meteoric" rise up the Pakistani national rankings to his Barringtonesque "Murder on the Squash Court" approach that he hopes will take him to the promised land, Ehsan is a breath of fresh air if you ask me.
Nov 29, 2019•44 min
Cornell #1 and current world #42 Sivasangari Subramanium is balancing academics and professional squash these days, and she's definitely got her head around it. With wins over several players ranked in the world's top 20, Sivasangari has found that balance b/t her studies, varsity squash and her pro game. It wasn't always the case though as Sivasangari lays out on this episode. It took a while to come to terms with stepping away from the PSA full-time. She's ready to roll now though, and we talk...
Nov 21, 2019•48 min
The Channel VAS Championship is just around the corner, and event organizer and St. George's Hill Head Squash Professional Danny Lee drops by to set the stage and provide a bit of a backstory. Former top 30 pro player, Danny has ruled the roost at St. George's Hill for the past 30 years, and obviously it's a venue and a squash setting that he holds very dear to his heart. On top of that, he gets to live out just about every boy's childhood dream of being the lead man for a rock band; the Danny L...
Nov 16, 2019•44 min
Not many on the PSA tour have a cv as impressive as Amanda Sobhy's. Currently #8, Amanda has shown that she's more than capable of challenging for the #1 spot in the world, and one look at her record till now would tell you she's trending in that direction. From world jr. champion, 4 time US varsity individual champion and currently a top 10 ranking on the tour, Amanda's always a threat at the major events. And then, she's also got her vocal talents and Twitter game as equally impressive sidelin...
Nov 09, 2019•52 min
The squash world today knows PJ for his insight and color on SquashTV, but we must not forget that as a player he was top 5 in the world, and a man who had epic battles with greats from several generations. PJ gives his insight and forecast on the 2019/20 season to date, the current state of officiating, whether or not there's a dearth of characters in the game and much more.
Oct 29, 2019•1 hr 23 min
England #1 and World #20 look great on paper, but for Declan James he's upped the ante. Declan's had an impressive few years recently, and now he's looking to take things a step further. It's been a busy few months to start the season, and currently he's spending time back home consolidating for the upcoming Men's World Championships and the Men's World Teams thereafter. Always a great chat with the Dark Knight.
Oct 19, 2019•36 min
Chairman of the PSA since 2008, President of the Saudi Arabia Squash Federation and sponsor to many top pros over the years dating back to Michelle Martin, Ziad Al Turki has dedicated his life to the game of squash. From growing the game in the Middle East to growing the professional game globally, the Sultan of Squash has spearheaded many of the great initiatives globally and nationally. Globally, he's been instrumental in paving the way for PSA Squash TV, gender pay equity on the PSA tour and ...
Oct 08, 2019•1 hr 9 min
The 2019/20 campaign has gotten off to a impressive start for Mike McCue; two consecutive finals appearances and a win under his belt. Mike's looking to build on that this season and take his game to the next level. Disappointed at not having made Team Canada's Pan Am Games Team, he's got a chance to earn a spot on Canada's World Team Championships team at the upcoming team trials. Mike and I talk about his career to date, the struggles he's had getting to that next level, and our mutual squash ...
Oct 03, 2019•1 hr 4 min
World #21 and 2019 British National Championship runner up Emily Whitlock does not disappoint on Episode 107. Our conversation ran the gamut of her squash playing career to date, including inside how the player/coach relationship manifests itself with her father Philip Whitlock, a former world top 10 himself. We also take a look at her pro career to date, and the stand she took in 2017 by refusing to participate in the PSA's Saudi Arabia women's event. We do get into the lighter side of things a...
Sep 13, 2019•49 min
2 time world junior champion Mostafa Asal, aka the raging bull, brings his enormous talents to the podcast and does not disappoint. We cover the whole 9 yards here, but in particular Mostafa looks back at his break out season last year, and his decision to turn pro over going stateside for the US collegiate experience. He also gives an impassioned take on Rami Ashour, and he explains who every Uber driver in Cairo thinks is Egypt's #1 player.
Sep 07, 2019•42 min
Damien Mudge won every professional doubles title, set every record, and reigned supreme with several different partners on the pro doubles squash circuit; he announced his retirement a few weeks ago after dealing with a series of injury setbacks. Squash journalist and pro doubles aficionado Rob Dinerman provides a look back at Damien's illustrious career and what made him a truly unstoppable force on the doubles court. Rob also gives some interesting insight on the US college scene and Ramy Ash...
Sep 04, 2019•1 hr 9 min
2018/19 was a break out season for Millie Tomlinson, reaching a career high of 20, earning her first English cap and defeating legend Nicol David in Hong Kong of all places. Millie sort of flew under the radar until last season, but she's definitely among the best players in the world now. Nantes is her first event of the 2019/20 season, and she's looking to hit the ground running.
Aug 29, 2019•29 min
Fresh off a 3 medal haul performance at the Pan Am Games in Lima this summer, Hollie Naughton is set to get her 2019/20 season under way at the China Open next week. Hollie talks about the highs and lows of the Pan Am Games and her 2018/19 season. Obviously she's had an eventful summer with the Pan Am Games, but even more she enjoyed a bit of R&R in Colombia with Nicol David and Amanda Sobhy, and shortly afterwards had her wisdom teeth extracted :).
Aug 26, 2019•40 min
For the past few years Gary Nisbet and Jesse Engelbrecht have provided the squash community with a wealth of content via SquashSkills and their own respective academies. On this episode we flesh out several very practical things that I think apply to all of our games regardless of your level including the mental game and winning the critical points, injury prevention techniques, and the subtle differences b/t watching the ball and watching your opponent. These among several other technical and s...
Aug 22, 2019•1 hr 8 min
Canada performed admirably, reaching 6 of 7 possible podiums at last month's 2019 Pan Am Games in Peru, and calling the shots was none other than former world number 4 and 6 time Scottish national champion Martin Heath. Martin gives us his assessment of the Pan Ams, how things went for his Rochester Yellowjackets in 2018/19 and how he's grown over the years as head coach. We also reminisce about years on the circuit, particularly with respect to the impact Peter Nicol had on his playing career.
Aug 14, 2019•1 hr 6 min
Jonathon Power was a player like none before or since. World champion, world number 1, British Open champ, 8x Canadian National champion, and Commonwealth Games gold medalist, JP was must watch squash whether it was round 1 v. a qualifier or the World Open final v. Peter Nicol. JP and I talk about the whole nine yards, including his unique development as a junior, the Peter Nicol rivalry, winning the World Open 2008 and the current "advances" in officiating.
Jul 30, 2019•48 min
A brief backstory of the In Squash Podcast and its host Gerry Gibson as a prelude to Episode 100
Jul 30, 2019•16 min
The greatest female player of all time graced the In Squash podcast online studio with her presence, and she well exceeded all expectations. Her resume is the stuff of legend: 109 consecutive months at #1 in the world, 8 World Open championships, countless medals at the Commonwealth and Asian Games, very much in a nutshell. Nicol looks back at how she was able to overcome the physical adversity of playing girls/ladies much older and stronger than her during her junior years, how she was able to ...
Jul 22, 2019•1 hr 8 min
2018 Canadian national champion Danielle Letourneau is coming off her best professional season to date, reaching a career high of 36 in the PSA rankings. In fact, 2018/19 was noteworthy for the entire Canadian women's team, all of whom are inside the world's top 40. Danielle describes her 2018/19 season, the wave she rode after winning her first national title, and how the wins and losses at the highest levels of the game are preparing her for bigger and better things. Most importantly though, w...
Jul 20, 2019•20 min
The winningest coach in US varsity sport history is undoubtedly someone who knows a thing or two about the team aspect of the game of squash; Paul Assaiante is a US Squash hall of famer and a guru of the game, particularly the team aspect. He heads up the US Pan Am Games Team that is competing in Lima, Peru at the end of the month. Paul gives us a break down of the US men's and women's team and how things look in terms of reaching the podium. Paul also looks back at another successful season at ...
Jul 15, 2019•28 min
