On January 10, New York City Sports Commissioner Kenneth J. Podziba will welcome the Bear Stearns Tournament of Champions to Grand Central Terminal's Vanderbilt Hall. From January 10-16, the world's premier squash players will battle it out for one of the sport's most coveted titles. The Bear Stearns Tournament of Champions (TOC) will feature a 32-player main draw and a 32-player qualifying draw for the men's championship, while the Bear Stearns Women's Challenge Cup will feature four of the world's top-ranked women. The men's and women's championship matches will be played January 16, beginning at 6:30pm.

"I am delighted to welcome back the world's best squash players to one of our city's crown jewels, Grand Central Terminal, to compete in the Bear Stearns Tournament of Champions," said Commissioner Podziba. "This year I am proud to announce the addition of the Mayor's Cup College Squash Challenge, the first ever co-ed collegiate squash match. Watching Yale play Princeton will undoubtedly add a new and exciting dimension to this fabulous event."

Vanderbilt Hall provides a unique surrounding for a state-of-the-art portable glass squash court, gallery seating for 550 and free viewing for the public. The TOC is annually the world's largest squash spectator event, as the reserved seating areas have consistently sold-out and more than 150,000 commuters view the tournament during the course of the week. Since its introduction at Grand Central, the Bear Stearns Tournament of Champions has truly lived up to its name - all but one of the titleholders in the last decade has also been #1 in the world rankings.

"The Bear Stearns Tournament of Champions has always been a leader in presenting squash in unique, innovative and spectator friendly formats," said Tournament Director John Nimick. "The Mayor's Cup College Squash Challenge is a wonderful new addition to the Tournament of Champions tradition of squash innovation. It also reflects the global imprint of our sport, as seven countries will be represented among the 10 players in the Challenge, in addition to the 14 countries represented in the Tournament of Champions men's and women's main draws."

Among the top players competing for the prized Tournament of Champions title will be World #2 Ramy Ashour. The 20-year-old, Egyptian-born player has taken the squash world by storm vaulting from #38 to #2 in the world in less than two years. The talented field also includes the reigning British Open champion and World #3 Gregory Gaultier (France), two-time World Champion and World #4 David Palmer (Australia) and World #6 James Willstrop (England), a two-time Tournament of Champions quarterfinalist. Three-time US National Champion Julian Illingworth and New York's own Chris Gordon will represent the US in the talented international field. Also competing will be Egypt's Yasser El Halaby who won an unprecedented four men's national intercollegiate championships at Princeton University.

The Bear Stearns Women's Challenge Cup will include defending champ and World #4 Natalie Grainger (US), as well as World #6 Vicky Botwright (England), World #9 Vanessa Atkinson (Netherlands) and World #10 Shelly Kitchen (New Zealand).

The Mayor's Cup College Squash Challenge, featuring Yale against Princeton, will take place on Sunday, January 13. Each team will be represented by three men and two women from their varsity squads and the five matches will be played in succession on the glass court. In the newly initiated Bear Stearns college squash rankings, Princeton is ranked #2 in men's college squash and #1 in women's squash. Yale University is ranked #4 in both the men's and women's rankings.

Other events being held in conjunction with tournament week include the Grand Open, a companion citywide amateur tournament, and the SuperSTARS Connection for participants from PowerPlay NYC--a nonprofit providing fundamental sports and life skills training for girls in underserved communities in New York City.

The Bear Stearns Tournament of Champions also highlights the work of two urban squash programs--StreetSquash and CitySquash. These after-school programs offer youngsters in Harlem and the Bronx the opportunity to participate in yearlong squash training and life skill development programs that include academics, community service and mentoring.

For more information about the Bear Stearns Tournament of Champions, including schedules, draws, results and tickets, please visit www.tocsquash.com. Tickets can also be purchased by calling (718) 569-0594.

The New York City Sports Commission is the mayoral agency charged with attracting, facilitating and promoting professional, amateur and scholastic sports events in New York City. The Sports Commission has played an integral role in creating or developing many new sporting events, including the NFL Kickoff Live from Times Square, NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series™ Champions Week, the BMC Software NYC Cycling Championship, the AVP Brooklyn Open, the NAUTICA NYC Triathlon, the NYC Half-Marathon, the Union Square Street Sessions presented by Jeep®, the Wild Onion Urban Adventure Race, and the Men's Health Urbanathlon.