It's been a long time coming, but the US finally has a professional squash league (The National Squash League) and it's something outside the box that is set to really take off in 2024. The brains behind it all include two talented Americans, World #29 Timmy Brownell and World #67 and 2023 US National Championship runner up Spencer Lovejoy. They take us through season one of the NSL, how the league came to fruition, the unique playing format behind it all and much more. We also take a quick look...
Jun 11, 2024•1 hr 19 min
The 2024 British Open is upon us and the two world number ones are your reigning, defending champions, Ali Farag and Nour El Sherbini. Play kicks off in Birmingham today and Johnny Williams breaks it all down with me on Episode 304. Check out our great sponsors, Open Squash www.opensquash.org and Sunrise Courts, www.sunrise-courts.com
Jun 02, 2024•46 min
Reigning 2 time world junior champion Amina Orfi had nothing less than an impressive season on the PSA tour, reaching as high as 11 in the world at the age of 16, and winning her first big PSA title at the Squash on Fire event in Washington, taking out Tinne Gilis 11-9 in the 5th. We talk about how she views her experience on tour this season, the ups and downs, the learning experiences and how she prepares herself mentally and physically for playing at the senior level. Also, Amina eloquently e...
May 28, 2024•54 min
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.
May 25, 2024•49 min
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 d...
May 15, 2024•50 min
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...
May 09, 2024•1 hr 10 min
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 ...
May 02, 2024•1 hr 14 min
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...
Apr 27, 2024•1 hr 41 min
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...
Apr 20, 2024•40 min
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 r...
Apr 13, 2024•34 min
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. ...
Apr 10, 2024•50 min
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...
Apr 07, 2024•52 min
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 PS...
Apr 05, 2024•38 min
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.
Mar 31, 2024•1 hr 4 min
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...
Mar 24, 2024•1 hr 5 min
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.
Mar 20, 2024•35 min
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/h...
Mar 15, 2024•50 min
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...
Mar 08, 2024•54 min
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 dr...
Mar 03, 2024•28 min
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.open...
Feb 26, 2024•59 min
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
Feb 21, 2024•54 min
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.
Oct 14, 2023•58 min
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...
Oct 07, 2023•1 hr 4 min
Squash Stories is the squash platform that has it all really; it's unique, it's polarizing, it's encyclopedic, it's relevant, and it's Jamie Maddox who is front and center behind it all. We talk about the evolution of Squash Stories over the years, and this bleeds into a serious debate over the current member of the year short list. Jamie and I also exchange views on the Mostafa Asal saga, how we see the top of the men's game right now, and we pay a mini tribute to a mutual squash hero, Qamar Za...
Oct 03, 2023•59 min
With 6 PSA titles to her name already and a successful junior campaign which saw her win the British Junior Open and British U19 Nationals in her last junior year, Torrie Malik is making serious inroads towards the top of the women's game. We talk about her junior days, her early PSA success and Team Malik. More importantly though, this episode is dedicated to her younger brother Sumner who passed away 5 years to the day, and Torrie talks about how special he was and the impact he's having on he...
Aug 11, 2023•53 min
Chris Walker's pro squash career speaks for itself; two time World Championship semi - finalist, 2 time World Team Championship winner, multiple commonwealth games medals, and the resume goes on...Chris is now based in New York City as the Director of Squash at the River Club, and took on duties as Head Coach for the Indian National Team close to two years ago, shortly after his last appearance here. Chris and I flesh out how the Indian National Team position came to be and how it has gone thus ...
Aug 09, 2023•1 hr 31 min
Mohamed Elkeiy burst onto the PSA coaching scene following the British Open as the man tasked with helping Mostafa Asal going forward. Highly respected by his peers and those in the know in the squash world, Mohamed has relished the opportunity despite all the scrutiny that is bound to come with it. Mohamed discusses how he is approaching all of this and what Mostafa needs to work on in an effort to overcome the on court issues that have plagued him for the past several seasons.
Jul 04, 2023•58 min
REAKT is a performance training app with some incredible features for players, pros and coaches alike. Tiago Goriely heads up the squash side of the app, and he breaks it all down with respect to how it can be of use to everyone, and it seems to me there is some great value here. Download the app by searching REAKT in your app store. Also, at the end of the pod I have a few thoughts on comments that have been made on social media in the aftermath of the season relating to "cheating" and "cheater...
Jul 02, 2023•57 min
At 27 years of age, 7 World Championships, 4 British Opens and at least 22 PSA titles to her name, Nour El Sherbini's accomplishments in the game are mind blowing. And amazingly, this chapter of her career, the one which has her winning the most prestigious events in the sport consistently, is far from over. Nour and I talk about her highly successful 2022/23 campaign, the women's game, the passion of Gregory Gaultier, Nicol David, and much more.
Jun 21, 2023•47 min
Fram Gommendy knows her squash and has more insight on the players than perhaps anyone else out there; her takes on several topics on this episode reflect that. This is a season recap that you don't want to miss and we also go into so much more. Many thanks to our sponsor Open Squash www.opensquash.org
Jun 17, 2023•59 min
