January 22 - Bradley Hindle

Vancouver is a great place and these are role model tournaments and is what the tour needs to survive. I wanted to put that comment so it does not get overlooked or taken for granted in the community! I'm very much looking forward to coming back to Vancouver next year. I know every other player thoroughly enjoyed Vancouver as well!

January 19

Review the Draws section for complete results from both the amateur and pro tournaments. Here is a list of the winners and runners up on the amateur side:

Women's Open

• Winner - Alicia Haneine
• Runner Up - Nicola Martin

Men's Open

• Winner - Melanie Jans-Burke
• Runner Up - Grant Stockwell

Women's A

• Winner - Cathy Brown
• Runner Up - Alex Goldstein

Men's A

• Winner - Adam Radziminski
• Runner Up - Imre Kovacs

Women's B

• Winner - Caroline Shortreed
• Runner Up - Maegen Giltrow

Men's B

• Winner - Stuart Akam
• Runner Up - Hussein Rahemtulla

Women's C

• Winner - Susan Gordon
• Runner Up - Dara Sklar

Women's D

• Winner - Rachel Au
• Runner Up - Abbey Foster

Men's C

• Winner - Steve Stinson
• Runner Up - Rod Wark

Men's 40+

• Winner - Lorne Lillemo
• Runner Up - Grant Gardner

Men's 50+

• Winner - Steve Maloon
• Runner Up - Kevin Kydd

January 17

Check out www.squashsite.co.uk. One of the players has added anonymous commentary on the tournament.

January 15 - Paul Marley

And you thought squash was more of a sprint!!!!

Renan Lavigne, the #1 seed from France, edged Joey Barrington, the #2 seed from England, 3-2 in 110 minutes in the finals of the North Shore Credit Union/Comfort Inn Open played at the Evergreen Squash Club in North Vancouver, B.C., Canada.

Lavigne took the first game 11-5 in a relatively quick 12 minutes that gave no indication of how the rest of the match was to be played as none of the subsequent games took less than 20 minutes.

Lavigne took the second game 12-10(2) in 26 minutes as both players reached deep to try to discover weaknesses in the other. The game see-sawed back and forth so much that neither player was ahead by more than 1 point until Lavigne won the tiebreaker.

Barrington attempted to shift the momentum in the 20 minute 3rd game but could not gain more than a 1 point lead until the final 2 points to win 11-9. You can imagine how grueling the pace was for the players as they dueled primarily on the backhand, with length being the primary shot.

Finally, in the 4th, Barrington grabbed some momentum and won the 1st 2 points, followed by Lavigne winning the next 3 points, Barrington winning the next 5 points in a row followed by the next 4 of 7 point for the 11-6 win in 20 minutes. The packed gallery was exhausted, let alone the players.

The final game, which took 24 minutes, saw Barrington roaring out to a convincing 7-3 lead only to see the very gritty, focused Lavigne inch his way back to a 9-7 deficit and then winning the next 4 points for the victory.

The concensus seemed to be that we had witnessed squash at it's finest. Beautiful strokes, unfathomable fitness, momentum shifts and genuine sportsmanship evidenced throughout the match.

The PSA has every reason to be proud of these young men, not only Messrs Lavigne & Barrington, but all the PSA players who participated in this year's tournament - and our 2005 event as well. Their conduct was exemplary and it was a pleasure to have them participate in our squash community. We can hardly wait for next year.

Now, maybe the rest of us should get moving on that New Year's "fitness" resolution!!!!

January 14, 2006 - Paul Marley

And it wasn't because of the rain.

#1 seed, Renan Lavigne(Fra), and #2 seed, Joey Barrington(Eng), both advanced to tomorrow's final with 3-0 victories in the North Shore Credit Union/Comfort Inn Open being played at the Evergreen Squash Club in North Vancouver, B.C., Canada.

In the first semi the clock struck midnight for Simon Rosner(Ger), the very popular 18 year old German star, who has delighted the crowds with his run from deep in the qualifying rounds to the semis. He went down to Lavigne in a 32 minute match that was better than the score or time indicated. Unforced errors and the physical result of playing his 5th match in as many days left him vulnerable to the more experienced, and much steadier, Lavigne.

In the second semi, #2 seed, Joey Barrington, and #5 seed, Eric Galvez(Mex), excited the crowd with a wonderful exhibition of lengthy rallies and nick searching strokes in a 42 minute match. Again, unforced errors were a factor in this match but, it must be said, that Barrington did a wonderful job of keeping the pressure on at all times in all areas of the court.

So, the final between Lavigne and Barrington pits the #1 & #2 seeds against each other at 1:30pm tomorrow afternoon and our squash community can hardly wait.

And the weather report, you ask - dry for the 1st time since 2001, it seems.

January 13, 2006 - Paul Marley

In an evening where 3 matches went according to the rankings, all matches were 3-0, Simon Rosner, the rising young German star, beat fellow qualifier Paul Davis(Aus) in quarter final play at the 2006 North Shore Credit Union/Comfort Inn Open being held at the Evergreen Squash Club in North Vancouver, B.C., Canada.

Young Rosner, only 18, created the biggest story as he gained a semi final berth having started the tournament in the 8th qualifier spot. Using his height to great advantage he seemed to constantly keep the pressure on the very likeable Davis throughout the match and emerged with a well earned 3-0 victory.

As the seedings would suggest, #1 seed Renan Lavigne (Fra) advanced over the #8 seed Bradley Hindle (Aus), Eric Galvez (Mex), the #5 seed, beat unseeded Amr Mansi (Egy) and Joey Barrington(Eng), the #2 seed, beat unseeded Bernardo Samper(Col).

If you listen closely, somewhere at the Evergreen Squash Club you might hear the chant building - "Rosner Rocks", "Rosner Rocks", "Rosner Rocks"

Tomorrow's semi final matches line up as follows:

• 2:00pm Renan Lavigne vs Simon Rosner
• 3:30pm Joey Barrington vs Eric Galvez

January 12, 2006 - Paul Marley

Today was a tough day for seeded players as four(4) of them lost in the opening round of 16 played in the North Shore Credit Union/Comfort Inn Open being held at the Evergreen Squash Club in North Vancouver, BC, Canada.

Gavin Jones (#3 seed), Matthew Giuffre (#4 seed), Rafael Alarcon (#6 seed) & Nicholas Kyme (#7 seed) were all eliminated in today's play.

Robin Clarke(Can), the wildcard selection, made a valiant attempt to reel in yet another seed extending #1 seed Renan Lavigne to four(4) games over 57 minutes narrowly losing 11-9 in the 4th in an exciting crowd pleaser.

And you'll never guess what the weather was doing in Vancouver!!!!

Tomorrow's quarter final matches are as follows:

• 6:00pm Renan Lavigne(Fra) v Bradley Hindle(Aus)
• 7:00pm Simon Rosner(Ger) v Paul Davis(Aus) - "the battle of the qualifiers"
• 8:00pm Eric Galvez(Mex) v Amr Mansi(Egy)
• 9:00pm Bernardo Samper(Col) v Joey Barrington(Eng)

January 12, 2006

Check out the Photo Gallery, for some great shots of tournament action, taken by Will Stiphout. Check back often, as the Gallery will be updated throughout the weekend.

January 11, 2006 - Paul Marley

Egypt's Omar Mosaad's winning length completed a 75 minute 4 set victory over Australia's Aaron Frankcomb in the final match of a 5 hour evening of squash at the 2006 North Shore Credit Union/Comfort Inn Open being played at the Evergreen Squash Club in North Vancouver, B.C., Canada.

The matches were all extremely well attended and the level of squash absolutely stunning for which the crowd was most responsive. One wonders how a squash evening can be more entertaining.

And we have only completed the 2 qualification rounds.

Tony James(Aus), Simon Rosner(Ger) and Paul Davis(Aus) were the other successful qualifiers.

The 1st round of the main draw starts tomorrow (Thursday) evening at 6:00pm with Renan Lavigne(Fra), world #33, and Joey Barrington(Eng), world #27, the #1 & #2 seeds respectively making their first appearance before our eager spectators.

The schedule for the 1st round of the main draw is as follows:

• 6:00pm Court 1 Renan Lavigne(Fra) vs Robin Clark(Can)
• 6:00pm Court 5 Bradley Hindle(Aus) vs Khawaja Adil Maqbool(Pak)
• 7:00pm Court 1 Matthew Giuffre(Can) vs Simon Rosner(Ger)
• 7:00pm Court 5 Nicholas Kyme(Ber) vs Paul Davis(Aus)
• 8:00pm Court 1 Omar Mosaad(Egy) vs Eric Galvez(Mex)
• 8:00pm Court 5 Amir Mansi(Egy) vs Gavin Jones(Wal)
• 9:00pm Court 1 Bernardo Samper(Col) vs Rafael Alarcon(Bra)
• 9:00pm Court 5 Tony James(Aus) vs Joey Barrington(Eng)

January 10, 2006 - Paul Marley

Despite some very spirited efforts, local favorites faltered, Aussie rules and all seeds advanced in the 1st round of qualifying at the North Shore Credit Union/Comfort Inn Open being held at the Evergreen Squash Club in North Vancouver, BC, Canada

The match of the night featured Aaron Frankcomb from Australia besting Rob Sutherland of Wales in a 65 minute thriller that featured some outstanding shotmaking and lung sapping rallies. Unforced errors may have been the difference but the crowd showed their appreciation of the level of squash most enthusiastically.

And three(3) of Aaron's fellow Aussies, Steve Finitsis, Paul Davis & Tony James, also won their 1st round matches,

Ian Power was the lone Canadian surviving the 1st round while five(5) of his Canadian mates went down.

A very promising start to an eagerly anticipated week of squash!!!!

January 9, 2006

PSA Qualifying play for the North Shore Credit Union / Comfort Inn Open begins Tuesday, January 10 at 6pm at Evergreen. There should be a number of great matches, so get there early! The draw is scheduled to be announced in the afternoon.

January 3, 2006

The number two seed at the upcoming North Shore Credit Union / Comfort Inn Open is Joey Barrington of England (the son of squash legend, Jonah Barrington). In the latest PSA rankings, the younger Barrington has been elevated into the World Top 30, from number 35 to number 27. His first match will be on the night of Thursday, January 12 at Evergreen Squash Club.

January 3, 2006

There are only 3 patron packages left to be purchased for this year's tournament. If you would like to secure your prime seat, please see Tickets, and act right now!

The PSA draw for the 2006 North Shore Credit Union / Comfort Inn Open has been announced. The draw includes 4 players in the world top 40. The top seed is Renan Lavigne (France), the second seed is Joey Barrington (England), the third seed is Gavin Jones (Wales), and the fourth seed is last year's runner up, Matthew Giuffre (Canada). For the complete player list, please see the 2006 North Shore Credit Union / Comfort Inn Open Draw.

Last year, PSA squash was brought back to Vancouver for the first time in years. And the pros did not disappoint. The tournament was an overwhelming success, and the sellout crowds were dazzled by the level and quality of play. For a summary of play, please see the Evergreen Open Results archived at Squash BC.