Spotlight Squash in the US

Gold Racquet’s Platinum Jubilee
By Awicsh Jayaswal

The Gold Racquet Invitational celebrated its 75th anniversary, its platinum jubilee December 2-3. This event holds the accolade for being the oldest invitational squash tournament in the history of North America. Hosted at the Rockaway Hunting Club in Long Island (NY), the tournament has become one of the season’s biggest openers and is quite popular with the East Coast softball community.

The Hunting Club itself, established as early as 1878, boasts a rich history and sporting tradition with some of the world’s best squash players having competed here over the years—Salaun, Mateer, Nayar, Niederhoffer and Nelson to Desaulniers and Talbott. The tournament, for years, was the showcase of two famous US squash figures—Stewart Brauns and Treddy Ketcham, both of whom were permanent fixtures at the event for several decades, from the first ball hit to the last, refereeing many of the Gold Racquet’s most memorable matches.

(Top, L-R) Finalist Michael Ferreira and winner Bernardo Samper.
Finalist Michael Ferreira and winner Bernardo Samper.

This year the Gold Racquet furthered this longstanding tradition by showcasing its strongest field in the last decade. The singles draw comprised of top seed and two-time US National champion, Julian Illingworth, former top Trinity collegians, Bernardo Samper and Reggie Schonborn (all of whom are actively touring the PSA), Michael Ferreira, located in the New York area, and strengthening the draw deeper was many-time US National team member, Richard Chin, of New York’s Harvard Club. 

In the doubles event, the pick of the tournament were Beau Buford & Geoff Kennedy, who played two five-set matches en-route to the finals, including coming back from 0-2 against second seeds Alan Grant and Bob Doyle in the semis after having just won their quarterfinal match against Shane Coleman and Scott Devoy 3-2 in the fifth set tiebreak. The Winner of this event—also known as “Ray Chauncey Doubles,” were top seeds Scott Stoneburgh and Morris Clothier, who won quite convincingly. A special mention for our second semifinalists Andrew Merrill & Coly Smith and quarterfinalists Hamed Anwari & Will Osnato who played with grit and displayed true courage under pressure.

The singles event was quite at par with the US National Championships, and in fact proclaimed several international players who are not eligible to contest the US closed Nationals. The pick of the players this year was Michael Ferreira who beat US National team member Richard Chin in the quarterfinals before taking out top seed and defending National champ Julian Illingworth in the semis, coming back from 0-2 down to win in the fifth set tiebreak. Second seed Bernardo Samper of Colombia won the  Gold Racquet Singles beating Ferreira in the final.

Doubles finalists Geoff Kennedy and Beau Buford, Tournament Director Mark Hinckley, Peter McGuire, and winners Morris Clothier and Scott Stoneburgh.
Doubles finalists Geoff Kennedy and Beau Buford, Tournament Director Mark Hinckley, Peter McGuire, and winners Morris Clothier and Scott Stoneburgh.

Bates’ Ricky Weiskopf, Yale grad Trevor Rees, and former Princeton player Dent Wilkins participated as well as the five ex-Trinity members, Samper, Ferrreira, Reggie Schornborn—the defending champion, Carl Bagglio and Thad Roberts, all of whom have not only kept up with squash after their stint at Trinity, but actually have continued to improve. Furthermore, veterans of collegiate, local and national squash fraternal fanaticism, Richard Chin, Ben Oliner, Alex Preston and Roger Arjoon proved to us that squash blood will run in our veins forever.

Traditionally known as a fun weekend, one packed with the highest quality of squash and competitive spirit—the event fulfilled every aspect of entertainment on its grand and monumental occasion. There was a black-tie dinner and dance party on Saturday night for all the players including club members. However, the night eventually moved into the club’s teak room, also known as the winter bar. Even in a state where girls were falling backwards off their bar stools, the competitive spirit of squash ruled supreme and a few people took to the paddle for some platform tennis under the lights.

If all that glitters is not gold then the converse must also be true—there must be some gold in things that don’t glitter, for instance, the 75th anniversary of this prestigious event marks its ability to overcome its fair share of challenges in the past. Actually begun 79 years ago in 1928, Gold Racquet celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1977. However, there was a three-year hiatus in the event starting from 1998 when the Hunting Club’s famous hardball courts were being converted into softball. By this time, a generation of collegiate players, who had converted to the international game 10 years earlier, had never heard of the Gold Racquet event. This identity crisis is quite similar to that experienced by the very sport of squash, which has had to continually evolve in order to make a place for itself in the international sports arena. The Platinum commemoration of the Gold Racquet is a vital landmark; it is a tribute to the undying legend of Treddy Ketcham, celebrating Hunting Club’s unique sporting traditions, but most importantly, it serves as a powerful testament to the evolution and survival of our beloved sport in these uncertain transformational periods.