Greetings To ALL
This blog serves as the first of a series of short snippets giving some insight into the squash world, all from the perspective of a fellow fan who happens to also play! My name is Timmy Brownell, I’m a squash lover from Belmont, Massachusetts currently living in Philadelphia, which is not-so-subtly becoming the main hub for high level squash in America. I moved away from home in the summer of 2021 to pursue my dream of playing squash at the highest level, and since then my life has been a whirlwind of plane rides, gym sessions, and all the highs and lows you can expect in the life of a professional athlete! Anyways, enough about me!
2023 ended with a bang on the squash front, with England and Egypt partaking in a fiery contest to decide the final of the World Team Championships at the Mercury Baypark Arena in Tauranga, New Zealand. The atmosphere in the arena was incredible for the final match, but if I had to choose I’d say it was even better the week prior when Paul Coll (world #3 and local hero) won a silver level World Tour event on the same court. His semifinal against Victor Crouin was particularly feisty, with the match coming down to the wire and the crowd loved every minute of it (I’ll see if I can attach a video below, there must’ve been over 1000 spectators!).
On the Team USA front, we arrived to New Zealand a week before the World Team’s and we found an amazing place to stay right on Papamoa Beach. The water was frigid for the first few days, but it helped our jet lag and we had some amazing laughs enjoying the local restaurants and the summer weather. Once in a while, we’d even make our way over to the famous Devoy Club for a training session or two…
Competition wise, we battled hard to top our group in pool play, narrowly avoiding an upset against a tough Czech team. Each of those matches would come down to tie breaks in the fifth, with Shahjahan Khan sealing the final victory for us. Beng Hee, former world #7 and our national coach, needed a beer or 12 at dinner to unwind from that one! In the knockout stages we drew hometown favorites New Zealand in the first round, and I had the chance to play Paul Coll in front of a packed crowd on a magnificent glass court, an experience I won’t soon forget. The commentator Stuart Davenport did say on stream he’d rather coach the world #3 than the world #93 (I guess I didn’t impress him much!), but that’s neither here nor there… we won the match, with Spencer Lovejoy and Shahjahan Khan coming through under pressure to deliver the needed wins for us to advance.
We lost a heartbreaker to Switzerland in the next round, but Andrew Douglas had a sharp victory against Yannick Wilhelmi, a very physically strong player who was up to the challenge. We had a great win against Scotland (who were ranked much higher than us at #1 and #2) and then fell short in the 5/6 playoff to Wales, who were energized by a top notch showing from #2 player Emyr Evans who was lethal from the word go. After the event, there was a nice dinner where players could relax and share a laugh before having a night out on the town. We ended up at a fun bar where the owners also served as the live music show, and they would play whatever we asked for on guitar and everyone would sing along (Andrew Douglas kept asking for Love Story by Taylor Swift, don’t ask why).
For what it’s worth, I’m unofficially awarding the dance performance of the night to Marwan el Shorbagy. From start to finish it was an amazing two weeks in New Zealand, and a special shoutout goes to the team of volunteers who worked tirelessly to put the event on, in particular Sam Niles, Steve the Maori, and Monica. We can’t wait to come back!
That’s a wrap on 2023, stay tuned for more snippets coming in 2024 (we still have to complete the outdoor Steel Court Tournament hosted by Maspeth Squash and the Tournament of Champions in NYC is coming up as well!) and a big thank you if you’ve made it this far! Give Maspeth Squash a follow online and remember, grab a racket and go play some squash!!!
-Timmy
