In squash - The Podcast

The sights were set on gold from well before the games, and to make it happen is a testament to the player/coach relationship Ben Ford and Gina Kennedy have established for several years now. Ben talks about his growth as a professional coach, the early days with Gina, her injury struggles before and after the games, and his thoughts on the women's game. Great chat and many thanks to www.opensquas...

This discussion brought together 5 extremely passionate members of our squash community, all of whom have dedicated much of their recent time to identifying ways forward towards growing the game. This panel discussion was meant to discuss various initiatives, issues, shortcomings and potential solutions to helping squash regain footing and head back towards a period of growth. The panel includes:...

Victor Crouin has picked up exactly where he left off at the end of 2021/22, on an upward trajectory and playing some inspired and impressive squash. This episode drops as Victor has reached another final, the Canadian Open where he meets number 2 seed Joel Makin in what should be a great match. Victor talks about the Canadian Open, his season to date, the officiating dialogue in the aftermath of...

The Oxford Properties Canadian Open brings world class squash back to the Great White North. Bow Valley Athletic Club is hosting the event, and club CEO Dean Brown returns to the pod to break it all down!! Check out BVAC https://www.bowvalleyathleticclub.com and the pod sponsor Open Squash at www.opensquash.org

Squash Mad's RJ Mitchell comes on to recap the start of the 2023 season, and then we take a deep dive into the Mostafa Asal situation, and RJ is an authority given his two recent interviews with Mostafa combined with his Victor Crouin, Marwan El Shorbagy and Jansher Khan stories, all of whom had a bit to say about the current world #1. We also talk about the rising star of Diego Elias, the future...

Jackson Bragman from the Bragman Breakdown helps me to breakdown the Tournament of Champions which concluded a few days back in New York City. We talk about the stellar performances throughout the event from the two eventual winners, Diego Elias and Nour El Sherbini. Finals day was a bit anti climactic, but overall the event had plenty of great moments, including the play of the Colombian Cannonba...

Hard to believe it was 4 years back, shortly after retirement, that the Wolf, Nick Matthew, first appeared on this podcast. Former World #1, 3 x British and World Open Champ and 3x Commonwealth Games gold medalist, Nick shows up like the legend he truly is. Nick gives great insight into everything we touched on: the recent British Junior Open including British success at U19, the first ever US mal...

2022 has been a breakout year for another one of the game's rising young talents. Reigning US National champion Timmy Brownell is on the cusp of regular gold and platinum event status. Currently at his highest ever world ranking of 52, Timmy's just outside the number that would guarantee him spots in those big event draws, but he knows it's just a matter of time. Timmy talks about his great season...

Aly Abu Elenein is without question one of the bright young talents on the tour, with impressive results over some of the best in the game in his first half-year on tour. Aly finds himself poised to take a legitimate run at reaching the top 10 in the near future. Aly and I talk about his season to date, and how it's inspired him going forward. Aly also discusses his squash backstory which for an E...

Earlier this month, Squash Mad's founder and Editor in Chief Alan Thatcher decided to relinquish the reins at the publication for health reasons. Yet, the publication is in very good spot going forward with the team he has assembled. Alan and I talk about his decision to step aside for the time being, the growth of Squash Mad and its team of writers. We also take a World Squash Day deep dive by lo...

Ending the first half of the 2022/23 PSA with a victory at the Hong Kong Football Club Open, Marwan El Shorbagy finds himself back to playing his best squash. Not only that, he finds himself back in the mix again at #6 in the world, with all to play for with some big events fast approaching in 2023. This is a great chat about the season to date, joining forces with the all time great Rodney Martin...

One of the most inspirational squash stories you'll hear, Wee Wern Low has undergone 4 knee surgeries throughout her pro squash career, and has just embarked on a comeback that this time has nothing to do with getting back to the top 10 or winning tournaments; it's about inspiring others and proving that if you put your mind to something you can be successful. Wee Wern opens up about her career, r...

Throughout the 2021/22 season, Nathan Lake was hitting his stride; promising results, his first ever English cap as a senior team member, and an injection of self-confidence heading into the tail end of the season. Unfortunately, a jam packed schedule caught up with him and he was forced to retire due to injury in round 1 of the Tournament of Champions back in May of this year. Since then, he's fo...

The season has had its ups and downs, but Mostafa Asal always finds a way to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. He did that once again by finishing the year with a huge win at the tradition laden Hong Kong Open. At 0-2 and 9-10 match ball down, Mostafa played a shot that seemingly only he could pull off, and from that point it was game on. Despite the officiating dramatics, we were treated to...

As you might expect, Squash TVs Johnny Williams gives a very insightful recap of the HK Open finals and the first half of the 2022/23 season. We talk about Asal's unbelievable comeback and HK Open victory, how Diego let this one get away from him, the several officiating missteps, the fact that Hania's definitely trending towards #1, who he expects to end the season at the top of the heap in the m...

Former World Junior Champion, reigning Malaysian National, reigning Asian Squash Championships Champion and current world #20, Eain Yow Ng is without question a force not to be overlooked on the tour. His current ranking of 20 certainly understates his potential, as has been evident with his performances over the past few seasons. Eain admits though that he needs a bit more consistency and self-be...

This is a recap of the Singapore Open and the 2022/23 season till now. Gerry opines on the Singapore Open event, Mohamed El Shorbagy and Joelle King's impressive performances along with the drama of the men's semi final b/t Diego Elias and Mostafa Asal. On top of that, Gerry gives his thoughts on the season till now in both the men's and women's game. Check out www.opensquash.org

Since his retirement in 2014, former world #1 and current World Squash Federation VP Karim Darwish has been just has impressive off the court as he was while playing the PSA. Karim reached world #1 in 2009, becoming only the 2nd Egyptian to do so, and during an era which included the likes of Amr Shabana, Thierry Lincou, David Palmer, Jonathan Power, Nick Matthew, Peter Nicol amongst many other gr...

In 2018, Open Squash's vision was to "build a center designed and targeted for squash players and make it available to all socio-economic segments of the local community by keeping our outreach broad and by making court time affordable" (https://opensquash.org/2018/10/). That vision remains front and center to this day. Open Squash Executive Director Cleve Miller talks about his unique squash back...

10X Scottish National Champion and former world #24 Alan Clyne has called it a career on the PSA tour. The next chapter is an exciting one as Assistant Coach at Princeton. Alan looks back at his decision to retire from the PSA, his PSA career, his 10 Scottish national championships, playing for Scotland in the future, and the exciting next chapter at Princeton. Check out www.opensquash.org

The only man to beat Jahangir and Jansher Khan in the same event, the 1991 World Open, Rodney Martin has parlayed a great playing career into a coaching a career that sees him as one of the very best in the game. Rodney talks about the key figures in his stable currently, women's world #1 Noran Gohar, men's #6 Marwan El Shorbagi and men's #28 Abdullah Al Tamimi. We get into his thoughts on the tec...

2022 Commonwealth Games gold medalist Gina Kennedy couldn't have written a better script for the 2021/22 squash season. She reached #8 in the world after starting the season miles below that, she reached the season finale pro tour finals in her first full season as a pro, and to cap it off Gina brought home Commonwealth gold in the ladies squash singles. Meanwhile, 2022 has gotten off to a slow st...

June 14th of this past summer was a sad day for the squash world as Camille Serme announced her PSA retirement due a pair of serious achilles injuries. Camille retired as one of the best players of her generation, reaching world #2 and winning the British Open, the US Open and the Tournament of Champions twice. Camille tells us about the struggles she had in attempting to recover from injury, her...

Without question, Rob Owen is among the very best coaches in the pro game today. That is non-negotiable. The success that he's had with players in his stable is impressive: former world #1 and current #2 Paul Coll, SJ Perry, Joel Makin, George Parker, Nele Giles, Jasmine Hutton, Dimitri Steinmann, a number of England's top juniors, and the list goes on. Rob's approach to the game and vision for th...

The Jet, Dimitri Steinmann has kicked off his 2022/23 campaign by reaching the third round in Qatar, round 2 in Cairo, winning his second Swiss National title, and he's kicked off the US Open with a first round victory. This all bodes well for Dimitri as he sets out to build on his current world ranking of #40. We talk about his start in the game, his parents who both represented Switzerland in th...