So you know all about tennis grand slam events. Do you know the squash equivalents?
Unlike tennis tournaments that get huge media coverage and draw droves of spectators to the stadiums, squash remains a subculture of sorts. Only the ardent fans of the game truly keep track of what is going on in the world of squash. Like many club-squash players that I know, you may have been to major tennis tournaments, but, have you watched a professional squash tournament yet?
Only very few squash players have.
I am a good example.As someone who visits New York City at least three or four times a year, I have been to watch the US Open tennis, at Arthur Ashe stadium. But, I have yet to attend the J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions, held in the Grand Central Station Terminal!
Next year I intent to change that.
In case you are not aware, PSA holds a series of events that they classify as Challenger, International, World Series, and World Championship. You can get more details of these categories by visiting the official site of the PSA.
Sticking with the tennis analogy, the PSA World Series tournaments can be likened to the grand slam events. They attract the top players of the game, and boast prize money that ranges between $115,000 to $150,000 – big money in terms of squash! With the entry of Dubai as a venue to hold a squash world series event, there are now nine tournaments that span four continents – Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America.
The 2015 schedule of tournaments, as it stands today, is shown below.
| Tournament | Rank | Prize money | Month | City |
| Tournament of Champions | Gold | $115,000 | January | New York, USA |
| Metro Squash Windy City Open | Gold | $115,000 | February | Chicago, USA |
| Dubai Squash Open | Gold | $115,000 | March | Dubai, UAE |
| El Gouna International | Gold | $115,000 | April | El Gouna, Egypt |
| The Allam British Open | Platinum | $150,000 | May | Hull, England |
| Hong Kong Open | Platinum | $150,000 | August | Hong Kong |
| US Open | Gold | $115,000 | October | Philadelphia, USA |
| Qatar Classic | Platinum | $150,000 | November | Doha, Qatar |
| World Championship | Platinum | $350,000 | November | Bellevue, USA |
| Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_PSA_World_Tour |
As you can see, four of the nine tournaments are scheduled to be held in American cities.
So, if you are planning a vacation next year to one of these cities, why not try to plan it around these tournaments? Or better still, plan a squash vacation.
Going by some of the games shown on squash TV, it does not get any better than this!
