September Update
With the NASH Cup only 3 weeks away we would like to remind members to get their tickets and sign up for the amateur events soon. As in the past members have free access to the club during the event and games will be broadcast to the club televisions. The live online scoring application launched in 2013 was a huge success, and has been enhanced for 2014…we will also be streaming matches live to the internet. Please take some time and update your calendar with all the information below so that you will know exactly what is going on all week.
Friday September 12th
Dane Sharp (wr. 82) will be coming that to run clinics for our juniors and will offer up matches at $1 per point with all proceeds going to ALS. There may be a bucket involved before the night is through. Watch for more on this from your squash committee.
Friday September 19th
The first professionals will be arriving. We would like to thank LSFC members for once again stepping up as billets and opening their homes to these players. You are a big reason that we are able to draw such a high caliber of player with a modest purse.
Some players have expressed an interest in offering lessons to members while they are here. Expect to hear more on this.
Monday September 22nd
– Purple and White Day
- Matches from 4pm-10pm – 32 players will take to the courts for 16 matches
- Locals – Nine (9) local players are in the mix
- WSA – Nicola Crich; Holly Delavigne; Giselle Delgado; Arden McKillop; and Laura Savage
- PSA – Strachan Jarvis; Adrian Ostbye; James Van Staveren; and Kale Wilson
- Players to Watch
- Chloe Chemlob (Canada) – This 16 year old out of Montreal is a rising star. She enters ranked 145.
- George Parker (England) – 18 years old and had a great showing at this year’s world juniors. In less than a year he has risen to 186th in the world.
- Oliver Pett (England) – Oliver entered the 2012 NASH Cup ranked 68th in the world and lost to Julian Illingworth in the finals. After 8 months away from the sport, he is once again rising in the ranks.
- See the 2012 Semi-Final Match Point
Tuesday September 23rd
- Pro-Am 2-4pm
- Matches from 4pm to 10pm
- First round of Main Draw for WSA
- Final round of qualifier for PSA
- Players to Watch
- Lisa Aitkin (England) comes into the WSA draw ranked 40th in the world and certainly looks like the player to beat. The top ranked player in 2013 was 52nd…so this is a great increase. The women’s draw then features eight (8) players ranked between 68th and 86th….some tight matches can be expected.
Wednesday September 24th
- Matches from 4pm to 10pm
- First round of Main Draw for PSA
- Quarter Finals for WSA
- Players to Watch
- Returning champ Joe Lee (England) is looking to be the first player to ever claim the cup twice. If you wager on rank he has a commanding position with the next players ranked 50th…but these are 21yr old Karim Fathi (Egypt) and 32yr old Shawn Delierre (Canada – 2011 Champ)…and then there are nine (7) more players in the draw ranked 85 of better looking for an upset.
Thursday September 25th – Barbeque Day
- A barbeque will run at LSFC from 11:30am to 2pm and is open members and non-members alike.
- Historically this has been a great opportunity to meet the players
- WSA Semi-Finals 1-3pm
- As in 2013 the Women’s Semi-Finals will run at 1 & 2pm.
- Come for the barbeque and stay for the matches. Meet your friends….bring your office….for those who find evening matches tough this is a chance to get out and watch.
- PSA Quarter Finals 6-10pm
- The Thursday matches are always the first to sell out. With only 8 PSA players left spectators get to see some amazing squash.
Friday September 26th
- PSA Semi-Final 6pm
- WSA Finals 7:30pm
- Maria Wazir of Pakistan won in 2013. She’s not back in 2014 so we will have a new champion…and with only one Pakistani in the field odds are that the trophy will pick up a new flag for the WSA event.
- PSA Semi-Final 8:30pm
Saturday September 27th
- 5:30pm – Challenge Match
- This was an experiment in 2013. Put 2 top women on the court with 4 of our clubs stronger players…give players challenges in each rally to accumulate points toward a cash prize. The server knows the challenge, the audience knows the challenge, the receiving player doesn’t. It was a huge success and is worth making it to the club early to watch.
- 7:30pm – PSA Finals
- Not only has the NASH Cup never been won by the same player…it has never been won by two players from the same country. Players from Canada, England and the USA will be looking to change this in 2014
Silent Auction
- The doubles court will be closed around 2pm Thursday afternoon and redesigned to include a lounge area (sponsored by Sleeman); amateur registration (sponsored by Nash Jewellers); and equipment from Karakal and Technifibre. The court will also be home to the 2014 Silent Auction.
- Proceeds from the silent action will go to the LSFC junior squash program; Western squash; and the university squash league. Scotiabank and SC Johnson will be matching some of the funds raised this year. We continue to look for more items.
Amateur Draws
- Thanks to the support of Goodlife Fitness and the use of their courts we are blessed each September with the largest amateur draw in region. While it’s early season, this is a rare opportunity to take on a tremendous field of players from across the province at all levels. Entry is now open and will be capped at 135 players.
Need more information? Tickets? Have items for the auction? – email Jay
Looking to enter the amateur draw? – go to www.squashontario.com
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Need to know where to watch the matches online? – www.nashcup.com . (Thank you to Polymath and MESH Communications)
The NASH Cup has grown from an experiment in 2008, to one of the largest squash events in the country. This could never have happened without the massive support of the London Squash & Fitness members; our incredible sponsors; the local squash community; and an unbelievable committee that started work on 2014 as soon as the 2013 tournament was over…