In squash - The Podcast

Jaymie Haycocks had a very good career on the PSA tour and he's parlayed that into success as a coach, hardball doubles player and with his squash podcast Squash Tourist and Friends. Jaymie and I chat about all of this on this, the first of two, World Squash Day feature episodes #worldsquashday

This coming Saturday, October 10th, is World Squash Day, and the man who's put this all together is none other than Alan Thatcher. Alan wears his heart on his sleeve in this ep, laying out what squash has to do to avoid the black swan. In a nutshell, World Squash Day is a day for the squash community to come together, celebrate our great game and thereafter work towards addressing many of the issues that have stifled the growth of squash in recent years. Alan and I flesh out some of these issues and ponder several others all with a view towards celebrating our game this Saturday.

It used to be Shabana, but these days it's this man, world #3 Karim Abdel Gawad to whom I go to for my pre-match inspiration. Karim's in the prime of his career right now, both mentally and physically, and last season was a clear indication of that as he rose back to #3 in the rankings after briefly holding the #1 spot back in 2017. He talks candidly about a tough recovery period after the 2017season, what it means to be back on court again, his current majestic play, and the myth behind his so-called love of pizza.

Campbell Grayson surprised many in the squash community a few weeks ago when he announced his retirement from the pro tour. It was a decision made difficult given what he had achieved in the 2019/20 campaign: his highest world ranking of 24, winning 2 of his 14 career PSA titles and his biggest ever in the Houston Open, and a 5th place finish at the World Team Championship playing for New Zealand. Campbell speaks to what led to his decision, the difficulties making it, and of course a great look back at his career.

Chris Walker reached the world's top 5, the World Open semi, the British Open final, and has the honor of being Jahangir Khan's final professional scalp. In part 1 of this two part chat, Chris provides all of us plenty of food for thought through some incredible anecdotes, insight and inspiration from his playing days.

Women's squash has a new world #1, Nouran Gohar, and her journey was not as straightforward as you may think. Yes, she's a two-time world junior champ. Yes, Nouran had immediate success upon turning pro winning the Hong Kong Open shortly after her second world junior title, but getting to the top of the professional mountain meant overcoming a few twists, turns and obstacles along the way. Nouran talks about her journey to #1 in a very enjoyable and insightful chat.

Having spent more than 12 unforgettable years immersed in Korea's nascent squash scene and development, I owe University of Toronto Varsity Squash coach Sean Oh a tremendous debt of gratitude for having indulged me on this episode. Korean squash's development since 1988 has been nothing less than impressive, albeit there have been growing pains along the way as one might expect. Sean helps me relive several great memories during my time there, but more importantly he breaks down the impressive growth of the game in this country, what makes Korean squash unique and what their future holds.

University of Pennsylvania and Squash Canada standout James Flynn performed at perhaps his highest level to date in 2019/20 with a win over Victor Crouin in the US collegiate individual event and stretching Sam Todd to 5 games in the Dutch Junior Open quarter final. James is proud of the way last season turned out, but he's under no illusions that he and his Penn teammates will be back on court soon. This fun chat looks at all of the above, his take on the current College Squash Association situation, and also James' vision on life after college squash.

A level-headed, straight-shooter with plenty of squash in his veins, Richard Millman provides a much needed dose of reality in this episode which delivers plenty of food for thought. Richard and I discuss the difficult road ahead for squash, particularly in terms of the pro game, normalcy at the club level, and the US varsity squash scene which has taken a bit of a hit recently. Richard is also an investor in iMask, and we discuss its merits as the best safety option for preventing the spread of covid whilst on the court. And, on October 10th it's World Squash Day, and Richard gives us a nice thumbnail of how we can get involved.

At her highest ever world ranking of 16, Nele is coming off of a fantastic 2019/20 season which saw her reach the quarters of the British Open and the final of the Detroit Classic among other promising results. Nele is in a great frame of mind right now and this comes out in a really fun chat about her squash past and present.