In Squash - The Podcast

Nick Taylor's playing career was impressive, but his coaching accomplishments dating back to what he accomplished in Jersey as the Director of Squash could be even more noteworthy. This past August, US Squash announced Nick Taylor as their new national team head coach to succeed Ong Beng Hee. Nick and I talk about this next chapter, his coaching journey and the growth of his academy, and the vision and challenges that lie ahead in his new role which includes ramping up for LA 28. Great chat and many thanks to Open Squash, www.opensquash.org , where growing the game and making it more affordable for everyone is their mission.

2024 World Junior Championship runner up Ju Young Na shocked the squash world when he upset defending champion Hamza Khan in the quarter final, and then continued to play absolutely amazing squash straight to the final where he lost to world junior #1 Mohamed Zakaria. Ju Young's performance bled into the team event where he led Korea to trip to the final against Egypt. An unbelievable performance with an inspirational backstory. Ju Young Na joins the pod today to talk about this historic result at the world juniors, his squash story and much much more. Huge shout out to Sang Hoon Lee for translating and helping lay the groundwork, and to the great sponsors of this podcast www.opensquash.org and www.sunrise-courts.com

Numbers don't lie, especially when you've got a team of number crunching experts like the one assembled at Cross Court Analytics. The insight generated from the numbers clearly runs levels deeper than what is revealed to the naked eye whilst watching Squash TV or even watching back a match of your own. Jamie Harlington joins the pod again and breaks down a few of the many incredible analytics that he and his team have identified during the course of the 2023/23 PSA season, including what the numbers say about the two world championship finals, Sherbini v. Gohar and Elias v. Farag, how the length of a match impacts the number of officiating decisions, how certain players respond to breaks in play and much more. You can check out all of this and much more at www.crosscourtanalytics.com . Big time shout out to the sponsor of today's podcast www.sunrise-courts.com

Hadrian goes in depth on his technical philosophy in part two of our chat. Once again, Hadrian's thoughtful approach speaks volumes when it comes to explaining technique and training routines that work. Many thanks to www.opensquash.org for sponsoring this episode of the In Squash Podcast.

2023 US National Champion and 4x PSA tour title winner Andrew Douglas announced his retirement from PSA professional squash two weeks ago to pursue a law degree at NYU. Andrew's squash resume is impressive, from numerous junior accolades, to going to back to back Potter Cup finals while playing for Penn, and winning 4 PSA titles along with a US National championship. Andrew talks about his career, why he decided to step away and some of the decisions he had to navigate before deciding to embark on this new chapter.

Hadrian Stiff makes a triumphant return to the pod and in case you didn't know, he's taken over the high performance junior squash program at Heights Casino in Brooklyn New York from Jonathan Power. This first of two episodes highlights Hadrian's thought provoking and practical approach to the mental side of the game. He takes deep dives on everything from how crucial it is at the junior level to get this right and how he has seen process, patience and persistence lead to success with the some of the greats that he has worked with including Mohammed El Shorbagy, Joelle King and Eain Yow Ng. Part two focusses on technical side of the game and will be released soon.

British Nationals kick off today and the Malik clan is once again represented like no other. Curtis leads the Malik boys, with a world #40 PSA ranking and seeded 5/8 this week. Curtis had his best PSA season to date, finding his way into the main draw of several big time PSA events. We talk about the British Nationals for himself, his 3 brothers and sister Torrie, his progress on the PSA tour, the general behind the Malik success - father Camron and much more. Check out Sunrise Courts at www.sunrise-court.com to see all of the great growing the game initiatives they have on the go.

At 2-1 down and 10-10 in the fourth, the fate of the Korean junior men's team was hanging in the balance. Jeong Uk Ryu then went ahead and produced the point of the tournament and completed the comeback to put South Korea in the junior men's final where they lost to the heavily favored Egyptians. Jeong Uk and I take a look back at the world juniors and we talk about his squash story, the past, the present and the future. Great chat and many thanks to Sang Hoon Lee for providing translation during the episode :). Don't forget to check out our great sponsor Open Squash at www.opensquash.org

Ep. 317 is the first of two successive quick fire podcasts on Korean squash which created a tremendous buzz following Ju Young Na's 2nd place finish in the world junior boys' individual event and the Korean boys' incredible 2nd place finish in the world juniors team event. Sean comes on to talk Korean squash, what the scene is like there, both at the elite and squash enthusiast level. We also take a deep dive into their elite level program with respect to coaching, player development, officiating and much more.

From winning national championships at Princeton to promoting and growing the pro game through Squash Engine and so much more, John Nimick is one of the game's prolific trailblazers. John has dedicated his life to this great game of ours, and it was an honor to talk with him. We cover it all including his early days winning championships at Princeton and his time on the high profile pro hardball tour, the crossover days of the hardball and softball pro tours, the history and evolution of the Tournament of Champions, US College Squash, and some great thoughts on things squash needs to consider leading up to LA 28. Great great chat. Check out our tremendous Open Squash at www.opensquash.org

2023/24 was sneaky good! She reached a career high of 5 and winning both the Manchester and German Open titles, reached the World Tour final and had some confidence boosting wins over top 5 players. She'd also love to cap all of that off with her maiden British National title, and that event kicks off next week. Gina and I look back at last season, the ups and downs, her tribute to the recently retired Nour El Tayeb, the difficulties she's had staying healthy and of course her thoughts on the British Nationals. Great chat and a big shout out to our mutual sponsor, Open Squash, www.opensquash.org

Chris Gordon has been among the very best American pros since turning pro over 20 years ago. Clearly, he's been there, done that, including reaching as high as 44 in the world in 2013. Chris is well respected for his squash insight as is evident through regular squash tv commentating appearances for stateside PSA events, and he took the mic again for the recent World Junior Championships in Houston. Chris and I recap the event which turned out to be the most exciting WJC in recent memory. Many thanks to our sponsor, Sunrise Courts who are working towards growing the game. Check them out at www.sunrise-courts.com

Former world #3 Simon Rosner's PSA career may be over, but he's definitely not retired from the game. Simon is the head coach of the German junior men's and women's teams who competed for the past two weeks in the World Junior Championship in Houston. Simon talks about their performance and what needs to be done to make progress going forward. We also talk about the talk of the town, the Korean Junior boys, with his illustrious career and the work he has done over the past few years with up and coming Swiss talent Dimitri Steinmann. Great chat!! Check out our sponsor www.opensquash.org, where growing the game is the be all end all.

During this year's British Open the Squash Summit brought together people looking to grow the game from around the world. Damian Burgess took part in the event and provides a great recap on each of the key sessions including squash in the Olympics, challenges with regards to growing the sport, and Rob Owen's session on Independent squash minds and his thoughts on such topics as coaching standardization and gambling in the pro game. Speaking of growing the game, don't forget to check out Open Squash and everything that they are doing in this regard at www.opensquash.org

Amanda Sobhy had been in the form of her career in December 2023, reaching the final of the Hong Kong Open after taking out world #1 Nour El Sherbini in straight games. Game 1 of the final saw her go down with a ruptured right achilles; she ruptured her left achilles in 2017. Well, she's on her way back and with any luck we will see her on court again soon. Amanda talks about the misfortune in HK and her form leading up to that event, her rehab, her thoughts on the how things played out on the ladies tour this past season, and much more. Check our our great sponsor Open Squash at www.opensquash.org

Board member and Founder of Open Squash James Green caught my attention with a blog post on the PSA's Mostafa Asal Raging Bull documentary which he posted recently. The Asal Doc is relatively dated, but it's still well worth watching and or revisiting. James talks about his squash backstory, Open Squash, and we deep dive into the Asal documentary. Great chat. Check out open squash at www.opensquash.org and check out the Asal Raging Bull documentary via this link here: https://youtu.be/I-EvRC0gi2c?si=keatl_9IrunaBGCH

2023/24 saw Joel Makin finish in impressive fashion, playing in my opinion the best squash of his career. He's back to world #9 after finishing 2024 with a flurry; a win in Manchester and of course an extremely impressive British Open with wins over Tarek Momen, Yousef Ibrahim and the 2024 World champion Diego Elias. Joel and I talk about having to overcome injury woes earlier this season to finding the best version of himself when it mattered at the business end of 2024. We also deep dive on his epic battles with Yousef Ibrahim, Mostafa Asal, his win in Manchester and of course his epic British Open. Check out the pod's awesome sponsors, Open Squash at www.opensquash.org and Sunrise Courts at www.sunrise-courts.com

Ong Beng Hee is moving on from his role as US National Team Head Coach to start another chapter in his post playing career in Beijing China where he'll be heading up the Dream Squash Academy. Beng Hee is pleased with what the US National Team accomplished under his watch, namely the women's incredible runner up finish in the 2022 World Women's Team Championship and seeing the team gel as a unit at the Arlen Specter US Squash Center in Philadelphia. Beng Hee takes a deep dive into his tenure with US Squash and then we flesh out the amazing challenge that lies ahead in Beijing with the Dream Squash Academy in Beijing. Many thanks to the sponsors of this podcast, www.opensquash.org and www.sunrise-courts.com

Fresh off British Open commentating duties, former world #4 and Squash and SquashTV legend Paul Johnson returns to the pod to talk about the incredible end to the 2023/24 season which saw dramatic results in both the World Championships and the British Open. PJ breaks it all down and we also talk a bit about the JB PJ Squash camps which are fast approaching. Check out the great sponsors of this pod, Open Squash and Sunrise Courts at www.opensquash.org and www.sunrise-courts.com

2023/24 did not begin on the right foot for Nouran Gohar, having to withdraw from the US Open in October with a serious plantar fascia tear and thus unable to compete until the new year. Well, she ultimately wound up finding the best form of her career once all was said and done. She couldn't have written the script any better, winning her first World Championship and 2nd British Open titles. Nouran talks about the tumultuous start to the season and ultimately how she found this season ending impeccable form on ep. 306. Check our sponsors www.opensquash.org and www.sunrise-courts.com