After dropping the first game in the BU13 final 12-10, Laith Barakat came back to win his first bronze title at the Play Squash Academy Junior Bronze in Bethesda last month.
Nicolas Bruneau scored his first tournament title without dropping a game in the BU15 draw.
Genevieve Hartlage won all four matches in dominating fashion to take home the GU13 trophy.
An impressive 11 National Capital Squash (NCS) players qualified for the final US Squash Junior Championship Tournament (the highest level of junior squash competition in the USA), which was held in Houston, Texas last month.
NCS juniors accounted for five of the 32-player GU17 draw. Despite being seeded 13th, Akaisha Bhatia reached the GU17 quarterfinal. Makeda Moshi finished 13-16 and Trinity Moshi placed 21-24.
Indira Moshi set a personal best JCT finish of 18, in GU19.
Among NCS boys, Zachary Ingber posted the highest finish, 10th in BU15, a personal best in that age division. Christian Keng also set a personal best in BU17, with a 19-20 finish.
From the SquashSite coverage: "Amina Orfi and Youssef Soliman completed an Egyptian double in the Squash On Fire Open after wins over women’s top seed Tinne Gilis and men’s third seed Iker Pajares in Washington DC.
"Orfi, 16, claimed her maiden PSA World Tour title after holding off a valiant comeback from Gilis in five games, ousting the defending champion in 88 minutes by a 15-13, 11-1, 9-11, 8-11, 11-9 scoreline.
"At 2-0 up and 6-1 up in the third, Orfi looked destined for a straight-games win but defending champion Gilis clawed her way back into the encounter to level and take a 9-6 lead in the decider. But it was Orfi who finished stronger, reeling off five straight points and capture the biggest title of her burgeoning career."
Congratulations to the two NCS junior squash teams that were the first from our area to compete at the National Interscholastic Team Squash Championships. This year’s tournament, which occurred last month, was held at the Arlen Specter US Squash Center, the location for future championships too.
Both NCS teams competed in the top division, with the District Squash girls’ team finishing fourth nationally after defeating, by a 5-2 margin, a higher-seeded team from Greenwich, Connecticut. The team consisted of Radha Vadlamani (#1), Willa Haberl, Devan Chopra, Gabriella Bitar, Mariam Masoud, Lara Sheth, and Sophia Zafar.
The boys’ team, named “Butternut Squash,” had many tight matches, taking ninth place after defeating Pingry in the last match by a 5-2 score. Two of the teams five-match wins went to five games. The seven players on the team were: Dartagnan Rastogi (#1), Oskar Brown, Ibrahim Masoud, Vincent Gledhill, Neel Sethi, John Bitar, and Roshan Gill.
This … Continue Reading ››
There were three Silver tournaments in our region during the last month. At the Woodberry Forest Junior Silver last weekend, Ibrahim Masoud cruised to the BU15 final, then promptly lost the first two games. He recovered to win the last three by scores of 8, 6, 3 to win his first-ever Silver tournament. Oskar Brown took third place, and Mariam Masoud reached the GU15 final.
Arman Sana notched his second consecutive silver title in BU17 at the St. James Pro Bowl Junior Silver. Aleksei Pilling reached the final of BU13. Oskar Brown reached the BU15 final by knocking out the number one seed in a nail-biter of a match, winning with scores of (10), 7, (8), 14, and 11. Unfortunately, he fell in the final in five games.
Jaiden Saran reached the Play Squash Academy Junior Silver BU17 finals after triumphing in a tough five-game semifinal 10, (9), (4), 10, 7. He … Continue Reading ››
NCS girls accounted for a record 25% of the GU 17 draw at the Mid-Atlantic Junior Championships (JCT), which were held in Charlottesville. This tournament is one of just five national championship-level tournaments used to select Team USA, and attracts the most elite juniors nationally.
Playing up an age group in GU 17, Isabella Tang reached the final without dropping a game. She pushed the winner in four tight games, showing substantial improvement compared to her previous match against the same opponent in October. She reached her first-ever #1 USA ranking in GU 17.
Calla Yim reached her second career JCT quarterfinal to score 2600 ranking points and maintain her #7 highest-ever USA ranking.
Playing in her first year as a GU 17, Makeda Moshi set a personal best 11-12 finish in that age group. She took a game off a player ranked #6 in the USA and pushed her to 11-9 scores … Continue Reading ››
The Squash On Fire Open, a PSA Pro Tour event, comes to town in February and National Capital Squash (NCS) members have exclusive access to discounted tickets.
Entrants include Belgian Tinne Gilis (world #8), Victor Crouin (world #11), Sabrina Sobhy (world #15), Shahjahan Khan (US #1) Todd Harrity (US #2 and world #51), former world #1 James Willstrop, and 16-year-old sensation Amina Orfi (world #16).
Come out to support several DC locals as they open their campaigns! Squash On Fire and University Club coach Ineta Hopton (world #55) faces Egypt's Menna Hamed (world #65). Ineta will be followed onto court by Mark Broekman, a long time fixture on the DC squash scene and Wakefield School's High School coach, as he faces India's Velavan Senthilkumar (world #63). Danielle Ray also makes another step in her comeback from surgeries, this time against Egyptian Haya Ali (world #60).
Tickets available here. Check your email for … Continue Reading ››
Zach Hollander and Miles Brown each dropped just one game on the way to the Singles A final at the University Club Jan. 7. So it came as no surprise the last match was a closely contested one, with Hollander winning in four games, closing out the final game 16-14.
Ben Hughes took the Singles B trophy after prevailing in five-game, quarterfinal, four-game semi, and then 11-9 in the fifth game in the final.
Fernando Vasquez won in four games over Billy Rielly to capture the Singles C title.
National Capital Squash (NCS) is pleased to announce a sponsorship program to encourage public high school varsity or club teams to continue annual participation in the US SQUASH National High School Championships.
The High School Championships offers divisions for teams at all skill levels. Your team will be placed in a division that should provide good competition.
There are up to two sponsorships for up to two teams. Each sponsorship would be for up to $1,200 to pay for entry fees and a portion of other expenses.
Here are the eligibility requirements:
The team must have played team matches recorded in the US SQUASH database against other teams (ideally, at least four such matches prior to the seeding of the High School Championship).
A team must have at least seven players. The players do not all have to be of high school age, but must be enrolled at a school that has a … Continue Reading ››
Lucas Bitar battled through two five-game matches in the quarters and semis and reached his first Gold final yesterday at the Episcopal Academy Junior Gold in the Philadelphia area.
Indira Moshi took third place in the GU19 division.
Ali Mansi-Schmitt set a personal best 9th place finish at a BU13 Gold.
Playing in his first BU13 Gold, Zayd Mansi-Schmitt finished 11-12, a solid result in a strong draw.
Grinding through six matches, Arman Sana also set a personal best 17th place BU17 Gold finish, taking the final match 10, 8, 10.
