Bear Stearns Tournament of Champions 2008

Date:	January 10-16, 2008
Location:	Vanderbilt Hall, Grand Central Terminal, New York City

Top-seed Ramy Ashour of Egypt capped his return to the Professional Squash Association tour after a two month injury hiatus in commanding fashion by defeating England’s James Willstrop in three games (11-7,11-10 (3-1),11-9) to win the Bear Stearns Tournament of Champions. On the women’s side, defending Bear Stearns Women’s Challenge Champion Natalie Grainger retained her crown by defeating New Zealand’s Shelley Kitchen in a riveting five-game final (11-4, 11-10 (2-0), 8-11, 8-11, 11-8). In the Inaugural Mayor’s Cup College Squash Challenge, Princeton defeated Yale (3-2) in a tightly contested competition.

Ashour advanced to the final by defeating Aussie David Palmer, a two-time World Open Champion in four sets. Willstrop had no troubles dispatching his semifinal opponent, Frenchman Gregory Gaultier, in three quick sets. Gaultier had been nursing a wrist injury all week and it became intolerable in the semifinal match.

Grainger needed only 20 minutes to dispatch her semifinal opponent, Vanessa Atkinson of the Netherlands, who also lost to Grainger in last year’s final. Kitchen reached the 2008 finals by upsetting #2-seed Vicky Botwright of England.

The inaugural Mayor’s Cup College Squash Challenge featured Yale University and Princeton University in the first ever college match with men and women from each team combining forces in competition. In a unique format, each player competed in a 12 minute match, with the player ahead at the timed conclusion the winner. With the match tied at two all, Princeton’s Kimlee Wong beat Yale’s Max Samuel to secure the Mayor’s Cup bragging rights for the Princeton Tigers.

Other events held in conjunction with tournament week included the Grand Open, a companion citywide amateur tournament, and the SuperSTARS Connection that supports 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 highlighted 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.

Squash is played in more than 120 countries by over 15 million athletes. It has been rated by Forbes magazine as the healthiest sport based on cardio respiratory endurance, muscular strength and endurance, flexibility, calories burned and risk of injury.

The Bear Stearns’ Tournament of Champions is one of the world’s most prestigious professional squash tournaments, annually featuring the top squash players from around the globe.

For more information on the Bear Stearns Tournament of Champions, including schedules, results, draws, and ticket info, please visit www.tocsquash.com or contact John Nimick at (617) 731-6874.

Results:

Men’s Draw

Semifinals
[1] Ramy Ashour (EGY) def. [3] David Palmer (AUS) 11-4, 7-11, 11-3, 11-10 (5-3)
[5] James Willstrop (ENG) def. [2] Gregpry Gaultier (FRA) 11-9, 11-2, 11-1

Finals
[1] Ramy Ashour (EGY) def. [5] James Willstrop (ENG) 11-7, 11-10 (3-1), 11-9

Women’s Draw

Semifinals
[1] Natalie Grainger (USA) def. Vanessa Atkinson (NED)
Shelley Kitchen (NZL) def. [2] Vicky Botwright (ENG)

Finals
[2] Natalie Grainger (USA) def. Shelley Kitchen (NZL) 11-4, 11-10 (2-0), 8-11, 8-11, 11-7

Mayor’s Cup College Squash Challenge Results

Tom McKay (Princeton) def. Moshe Sarfat, 20-13

Logan Greer (Yale) def. Emery Maine (Princeton), 25-19

David Letourneau (Princeton) def. Ho Ming Chiu, 23-14

Miranda Ranieri (Yale) def. Amanda Siebert, 20-15

Kimlee Wong (Princeton) def. Max Samuel (Yale) 21-11

For results from last year's tournament, please visit our 2007 Bear Stearns TOC Page.

Last Updated On: Friday, January 18, 2008



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