In squash - The Podcast

It's been a long time coming, but the US finally has a professional squash league (The National Squash League) and it's something outside the box that is set to really take off in 2024. The brains behind it all include two talented Americans, World #29 Timmy Brownell and World #67 and 2023 US National Championship runner up Spencer Lovejoy. They take us through season one of the NSL, how the league came to fruition, the unique playing format behind it all and much more. We also take a quick look at their respective 2023/24 PSA campaigns, and Timmy and I do a quick recap of the British Open. Check out the NSL homepage at www.nslsport.com

The 2024 British Open is upon us and the two world number ones are your reigning, defending champions, Ali Farag and Nour El Sherbini. Play kicks off in Birmingham today and Johnny Williams breaks it all down with me on Episode 304. Check out our great sponsors, Open Squash www.opensquash.org and Sunrise Courts, www.sunrise-courts.com

Reigning 2 time world junior champion Amina Orfi had nothing less than an impressive season on the PSA tour, reaching as high as 11 in the world at the age of 16, and winning her first big PSA title at the Squash on Fire event in Washington, taking out Tinne Gilis 11-9 in the 5th. We talk about how she views her experience on tour this season, the ups and downs, the learning experiences and how she prepares herself mentally and physically for playing at the senior level. Also, Amina eloquently explains why basing herself in Egypt rather than taking the US college option makes the best sense. There's much more as well, from role models, players she looks up to, goals that remain in her junior career. Great chat ! Please check out our sponsor, www.opensquash.org and www.sunrise-courts.com

We battled through some wifi issues, but this PSA World Championships recap was well worth the effort. Always a pleasure to have Ahad Raza break things down, as we take a close look at what led to the crowning of two first-ever world champions, Diego Elias and Nouran Gohar. We also take a quick look at the upcoming British Open. Check out our new sponsor, www.sunrise-courts.com along with www.opensquash.org.

Amr Khalifa's squash resume prior to leaving the pro game for other professional pursuits speaks for itself: 2010 World Junior Champion and 2014 US College Squash Individual Champion, and on both occasions he defeated current world #1 Ali Farag, in the final and semi-final of those prestigious events respectively. Amr is now Open Squash's Director of Squash at its Fidi location in NYC's financial district. We talk about his old rivalry with Ali Farag which dates back to their very early junior days, the influence of Amr Shabana, leaving the pro game, the Open Squash vision and much more.

Ep. 300, thought long and hard about this one, and at the end of the day, not a difficult choice at all. Rob Dinerman's pods have received critical acclaim since his first appearance 5 years back on ep. 20. It's no hyperbole to say he's gotten better with each ep and you don't want to miss this. Rob and I catch up a bit and then get into his two latest books, A History of Squash: Trinity College and his epic 100 Years of College Squash. We take deep dives into both, plus I'd have been remiss not to talk the pro doubles tour and how everything has played out till now this season. Incredible chat with Rob. You can find excerpts from all of Rob's books at www.robdinerman.com Also, don't forget to check out what's happening at Open Squash at www.opensquash.org

Another fantastic chat with Jesse Englebrecht who has fast become squash's resident mental game guru. We recently witnessed Siva Subramanium's unbelievable performance at the London Squash Classic and Jesse was in her corner preaching, mildly, the mental practices that they've been working on for the past little while. We talk about all of that plus I attempt to deep dive on squash and mental game, and Jesse obliges big time with some real, practical knowledge that you won't want to miss. Check out all the great stuff Jesse is doing with respect to the mental game at https://sportmind.io/ and also as we're all into making squash more accessible and affordable for everyone, check out the great things going on at Open Squash, www.opensquash.org

Luke Butterworth, for such a young man, has a coaching resume that is highly impressive. After a few years on the PSA tour, Luke has poured all his energy into the coaching game which sees him now as the US Junior National Team Head Coach. His coaching philosophy is something all coaches should aspire to, and Luke breaks all of that down along with his backstory and his early coaching influences, how his coaching has evolved over the years, and a great breakdown of the current US Junior national team. Also, please check out the great sponsor of this pod, www.opensquash.org, as they have several amazing summer camps on offer if you're in and around NYC.

Fresh off a magnificent runner up result at the German Open a few weeks back, Dimitri Steinmann is into the 2nd round at El Ghouna where he finds himself playing some of the best squash of his career. It's been a bit of personal battle for Dimitri though. Last October's US Open saw Dimitri get hit with an 8 week suspension for an incident during his match with Timmy Brownell. Dimitri talks about his current form, the unfortunate incident against Timmy in terms of what he learned and how he hopes to grow from the experience. We also talk about LA 28 and how he hopes to carry on the Olympic tradition for the Steinmann family. Great catching up with Dimitri and also great being a part of the Open Squash family where growing the game is the vision. Check out Open Squash at www.opensquash.org

Fresh off the biggest win of her career at the London Squash Classic and her highest ever world ranking of 13, Sivasangari Subramanium is making serious inroads towards the very top of the game. Wins over world #1 Nour El Sherbini and World #2 Hania El Hammamy will no doubt give her that self-belief that perhaps has eluded her in the past. As many of you know, in June 2022 Siva was involved in a serious car accident that sidelined her for seven months, but as we talk about on the pod that time rehabbing also allowed her to reevaluate things and she's come back playing the best squash of her career. We talk about all of this on EP. 296 Also, don't forget to keep up with how to grow the game at www.opensquash.org