Twenty Years Ago in Squash Magazine August-September 1998
In one of the most arresting photographs ever to grace the magazine’s cover, Steve Line’s image of Ong Beng Hee was the visual preview to the 1998 World Juniors at Princeton. Beng Hee did go on to capture the World Juniors that summer, topping Wael El Hindi in four in the finals. He reached world No. 7, won fifteen PSA titles, four Asian Championships, two gold medals in singles at the Asian Games and one silver medal in doubles at the Commonwealth Games. Beng Hee retired in July 2015 after twenty years on tour. For two years he coached with the Malaysian Squash Federation, training Ivan Yeun and Sivasangari Subramaniam. In June last year, he moved to Doha to coach with the Qatar Squash Federation as their technical director. Beng Hee, now thirty-eight, and his wife Winnie Lai have two young daughters Janelle and Joelle.
Fifteen Years Ago in Squash Magazine October 2003
Amy Boytz Duchene celebrated Team USA’s triumph at the 2003 Pan American Games, when Latasha Khan won individual gold and the women’s team topped Canada in the finals for the first team gold medal in Pan-Am squash history. Khan went on to win four more National Singles titles and ten more PSA tournaments. She also was chair of the women’s pro association, leading the historic 2015 merger with the men’s tour. Today Khan, forty-five, lives in Seattle, coaches part-time, works as a social media consultant and plays pro doubles events (she was ranked eight last year) despite not having a doubles court in her state. Louisa Hall reached world No. 60 before retiring in 2007. Now thirty-six, Hall lives in Bozeman, Montana; next year she will move to teach creative writing at the University of Iowa. Her third novel, Trinity, is being published this month. Meredeth Quick reached world No. 37 before retiring in 2007. She then was a national coach for six years and served on the board of US Squash for a decade; today she’s on the board of CitySquash Brooklyn. She teaches sixth grade English and coaches squash at Poly Prep Country Day School in Brooklyn. Quick, now thirty-nine, has captured three National Doubles, one National Mixed Doubles and one National Sibling Doubles titles and is ranked No. 2 on the women’s pro doubles tour.
Ten Years Ago in Squash Magazine July/August 2008
Will Carlin profiled his mentor Baird E. Haney in his back-page column Will’s World. Haney played squash at Brooks School and then all four years on the varsity at Tufts, graduating in 1981. Haney then came to the Heights Casino in Brooklyn and coached squash and tennis to juniors there. In 1984 he was killed in a car accident on the Manhattan Bridge. Two years later, the Heights Casino named its annual junior tournament after him. Today the Baird Haney is one of the most prestigious gold tournaments in the country. In addition, both the Heights Casino and Brooks annually give out an award to a player who exhibits great dedication and sportsmanship.
Five Years Ago in Squash Magazine October 2013
With a Steve Line photo, James Zug profiled Mohamed ElShorbagy and his brother Marwan, “The Egyptlishmen” as a preview for the U.S. Open. In the past five years, Mohamed’s ranking has jumped from world No. 6 to No. 1; and he’s captured thirty PSA titles, including two U.S. Opens and, finally, the World Championship last year. ElShorbagy is still based in Bristol, England, where he trains with Hadrian Stiff, as well as trips back to Millfield School to work with Jonah Barrington and to Ithaca, NY to work with David Palmer. At one point, he was engaged to be married but is now single. ElShorbagy, twenty-seven, is still a family man: he shares an apartment with his younger brother, world No. 3 Marwan and is coached by his mother Basma.
