Latest news with #squash
BBC News
9 hours ago
- General
- BBC News
Family golfing rivalry fuels Weaver's US Open bid
"I can still beat him on a squash court but at table tennis he's pretty good and in terms of golf, it's amazing to have a younger brother who's really kicked on and is producing some great scores."When Suffolk amateur Tyler Weaver steps out onto the first tee at Oakmont for next week's US Open, he will have one of the people who knows him best alongside him - elder sibling Max will be his 20, played 36 holes in a day in a qualifying event in Atlanta and finished joint third on 11 under par, with major winners Zach Johnson and Jason Dufner among those to fall by the he wasted no time in contacting Max, 22, via the family Whatsapp group to recruit him for bag duties in Pennsylvania."He said 'I hope you don't mind but I think you're going to have to carry my clubs around Oakmont', and I said 'I think that will work with my schedule, mate', Max told BBC Radio Suffolk."I've had quite a bit of caddying experience, I caddied for a couple of friends in some big tournaments - the only thing I've got to remember is that he hits the ball slightly further than me so the yardages change a little bit." 'It's going to be awesome to be there with him' They will be brothers in arms at Oakmont - but there is also a serious rivalry as two Weavers have played together for the Suffolk county team and Max made a notable mark of his own by winning the 2023 Welsh Amateur Championship in Newport."We always said that if one of us gets a big opportunity, the other one would definitely help them. It's going to be awesome that I can be there with him and see what we can produce as a team," Max said."There's no-one I know who hates losing more than him. Everything he does is about winning and I do think he can take it to the top in this game - but on the flip side of that, I need to hunt him down." The brothers - sons of former flat jockey Jason Weaver, who rode more than 1,000 winners over his career - first took up the game at a very young age, playing with plastic clubs in the is now part of the university golf scene in the United States and will be drawing on his experiences in his first major championship."We're flying out on Sunday, so we have Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to get settled in and really understand the golf course, that's when the main work will be done. Away from that, you can do a lot of research on the course and speak to a few people (about it)," Max added."We know all the US style courses are brutal, so it's going to be a challenge but he's used to playing tough courses in college and at top level amateur events, so that should definitely help him."So how does Max think his brother will fare in the US Open, won by Dustin Johnson the last time it was played at Oakmont in 2016?"He's improved so much in the last two years and he's on this level where I think he can go out and do anything he wants," he said."Beating those guys (in qualifying) will give him some confidence going into the week, and he had a win earlier this year, which has given him a PGA tour start in November. "It's nice that he's got two big opportunities coming up and we are all looking forward to it as a family."He added: "I think the whole experience is really important and taking that in. We always like to play with no expectations but making the cut at his first major would be nice. "But even more than that, going a little bit further and seeing how far he can move up that leaderboard on Sunday would be a great achievement."
BBC News
a day ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Makin beats Steinmann to reach British Open quarters
Joel Makin reached his second consecutive British Open quarter-final after outplaying Swiss world number 18 Dimitri Steinmann 11-5 11-4 11-4 at the Birmingham Repertory the first meeting between the pair, Making - the British number one and world number four - took the initiative early on, spending the majority of the opening game in front of Steinmann and forcing the Swiss number one into long, lung-busting rallies and desperate scrambling taking the 23-minute first game 11-5, Makin doubled his lead after dominating the second 11-4, with the Welshman looking fully at home in his adopted city where he studied and has lived for the last 12 started game three more brightly, upping the tempo and volleying more to get the ball past Makin more though, was soon able to adapt and wore Steinmann down with some typically brutal rallies, complemented by some smart finishes at the front of the court as he brought the contest to a close with another 11-4 win."It was great, I love playing here. I've been here for 12 years now and it feels like home. People have been coming out and supporting, it's great and I've loved the atmosphere here," Makin will play France's Victor Crouin in the quarter-finals, with their match scheduled for Thursday, 5 June at 20:15 British players Marwan ElShorbagy and brother Mohamed ElShorbagy are in action on Wednesday bidding to join Makin in the last eight, taking on respectively Youssef Soliman and his Egyptian compatriot Mohamad the women's draw, England's Sarah-Jane Perry aims to keep British hopes alive against Nour ElSherbini of Egypt.
Malay Mail
2 days ago
- General
- Malay Mail
Sivasangari stuns seventh seed, storms into British Open quarters
KUALA LUMPUR, June 4 — National squash ace S. Sivasangari is through to the quarter-finals of the 2025 British Open after a thrilling five-game victory over Japan's Satomi Watanabe in Birmingham on Tuesday. The 26-year-old Malaysian displayed remarkable resilience to defeat the tournament's seventh seed 11-9, 11-9, 4-11, 4-11, 11-4 in a match lasting just over an hour. World number 24 Sivasangari started strongly by clinching the first two games before Watanabe fought back to level the match by taking the third and fourth. However, the Kedah-born player regained her composure in the decider, dominating the final game to secure her place in the last eight. Sivasangari will next face fourth seed Amina Orfi of Egypt as she continues her pursuit of a semi-final in the prestigious tournament. — Bernama
The National
3 days ago
- Health
- The National
Egypt's Nour El Sherbini calm and focused on her path to becoming the greatest
For a perennial record-breaker, Nour El Sherbini is, surprisingly, not all about breaking records. The Egyptian squash star has been pulling off unprecedented feats ever since she became the youngest winner in World Junior Championships history at just 13 years of age, back in 2009. Earlier this month, the second-ranked El Sherbini equalled Nicol David's record of most World Championships won by clinching her eighth crown with a hard-fought 11-5, 11-9, 4-11, 11-7 victory over fellow Egyptian Hania El Hammamy in Chicago. When David set that record by claiming an eighth world title in 2014, it was hard to imagine anyone would be able to match the Malaysian legend's tally. El Sherbini certainly didn't. But the Egyptian, famously nicknamed the Warrior Princess, went on to reach the next 10 consecutive World Championship finals, and has remarkably won eight of them. 'It never crossed my mind to think that I would do this or I would be in 10 finals or win eight World Championships. It was never in my mind, to be honest,' El Sherbini told The National in a Zoom interview after her triumph in Chicago. The thought of tying David's record only started creeping in El Sherbini's mind after she secured her seventh world title in 2023, with everyone anticipating it would happen the following year. But in 2024, El Sherbini fell in the final to her arch-rival Nouran Gohar, who snapped a three-match losing streak to El Sherbini in World Championship deciders to finally clinch her maiden crown. 'It was very, very, very tough. For the first time in a long, long time, I felt this pressure. I felt the pressure of, 'I need to win this tournament',' El Sherbini said, reflecting on her near-miss last year. The 2024 World Championship was held in Cairo and all El Sherbini could hear was people talking about the possibility of her matching David's mark. It ultimately got to her. When she lost, it was actually David who gave her a pep talk and consoled her. 'She was super nice,' said El Sherbini of the retired Malaysian. 'She was like, 'It's fine. You always drop one and you will get back there. You will win next year. And it always happened like this'. 'And we kept talking about how she dealt with this pressure. And she let me feel that it's fine. It's normal. And she gave me the belief a little bit that you're going to do it next year. So yeah, it was really nice to see her straight after Worlds because it meant so much.' David, of course, texted El Sherbini after she equalled her record. 'She was like, 'I was sure you're going to do it. You always set targets for yourself and you always reach them. So I was 100 per cent sure you're going to win it. So enjoy and good luck',' El Sherbini revealed. This season has been a difficult one for El Sherbini and the 29-year-old entered the World Championship trying to focus on the thing she loves the most – playing squash and competing. The squash season runs from September to June and right before the start of this campaign, El Sherbini lost her fitness coach of 14 years, Waleed El Mosalamy, who passed away eight months ago. 'He's always been like a father figure to me and we were very close. We're very attached to each other and it was a shock for me,' said El Sherbini. 'He was one of the people who really loved me unconditionally. You know, the love that you don't want anything back. 'He always wanted to see me win an eighth World Championship. And he always believed I can do it. And he always believed I can do more than this. So, I was really motivated this time to win this title for him.' Another big change for El Sherbini this season was the departure of one the squash coaches she worked with in Alexandria, who moved to the United States after being part of her team for the past decade. 'I was struggling when I step on court not to think of all the things happening. When I was inside the match, I felt a bit lost,' she explained. 'I wasn't able to think properly, or even think like the way I want to be thinking in a very crucial time. And when you lose a match, it still hits you hard. So, it's hard to move on after and to keep going and being positive when there's not a lot of people around you to have the support, when they're already struggling, the same struggle you are having. 'I think it played a big part of my results this season. It was a bit tough on me.' Throughout her career, El Sherbini had relied on her father to talk things out and never really felt the need to hire a sports psychologist. But before the World Championship, she decided to reach out to mental coach Farida Amin and the move paid dividends immediately. 'I started talking with her just before the tournament, like two weeks before the tournament. And I think I was much better mentally, which has helped me a lot to be better on court,' she said. A key moment for El Sherbini came in the semi-finals in Chicago, where she found herself just three points away from defeat, trailing home favourite Olivia Weaver 3-8 in the fourth game. The former world No 1 swept eight points in a row to force a deciding fifth game and punched her ticket to the final shortly after. 'To be honest, I felt I was going to lose this match. I didn't feel like I'm coming back,' El Sherbini confessed. But she never hit the panic button and decided if she was going down, she would go down swinging. 'It's one of the matches that I'm really proud to win and it really played a huge part for the final match because I had a lot of confidence after that,' she added. At 29, El Sherbini has achieved everything there is to achieve in squash. She has spent 277 weeks at the summit of the rankings, owns 44 PSA titles, and is widely regarded as one of the greatest squash players of all time. So what is still driving her to keep grinding on the squash tour? 'Not the records,' she quickly responds. 'Because if I think of the records, they won't come. I just want to play and try to win tournaments. I love squash. It's my life. It's everything I do. And I really love myself when I'm on court. This is the best thing I could do or this is the best place I could be at. 'I try always to put targets for myself. Not huge targets, but targets to try to always find, I need to win this, I need to win this, I want to do this. Not to break the record, not to be the best player or not, but just for me to win it and I'll be happy if I won this one. 'I believe when I did this, the records came by themselves. 'I try always to motivate myself as much as I can. You definitely lose it sometimes, but I try to have targets. I have to try to always put them in front of me. The challenge is high as well. You see the others, and they keep motivating you. Because you want to challenge them.' One thing El Sherbini hopes to experience for the first time is the Olympic Games. After a lengthy campaign and multiple failed bids to be added to the programme, squash will finally make its Olympic debut at LA 2028 and the world No 2 is hoping she will be there. El Sherbini will be 32 at the time and she laughs when she recalls her reaction to when the news broke of squash's inclusion in the upcoming Games. 'I was like, oh my God, what's happening now? What will I do?' she said. 'It's good, but is it bad or good for me? It's a new target that I definitely added to the list straight away. I kept telling myself, 'It's not far away, it's doable to do it'. 'At the same time, it's three years, you never know where you're going to be or what you're doing, but definitely, definitely, it has to be in the plan. I'm trying to work on my body to stay good, to stay fit, nothing wrong until this time. I would definitely do anything to qualify to play in the Olympics. 'You don't have a better chance than this to end your career in the Olympics.' While she may not be chasing records – as she said, they come on their own – El Sherbini beams at the idea that when all is said and done, she may one day be dubbed the greatest women's squash player of all time. 'It would be a pleasure, of course. Why not?' she says. 'Of course it's something I would wish for and I hope I deserve it or I hope I really deserve this sentence that people would say about me and they always remember me in a good way and that I'm a good person, not only the greatest of all time. 'It really matters to me that people always say good things about me off the court and of course being the greatest of all time, this is everything for me.'
Free Malaysia Today
3 days ago
- General
- Free Malaysia Today
Sivasangari cruises into 3rd round of 2025 British Open
National women's squash champion S Sivasangari will meet Japanese player Satomi Watanabe in the third round of the 2025 British Open. (Facebook pic) KUALA LUMPUR : National women's squash champion S Sivasangari advanced to the third round of the 2025 British Open in Birmingham today. In the second-round match at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, the world No 8 player needed just 45 minutes to record a 12-10, 9-11, 11-8, 11-7 victory over India's Ahanat Singh. Awaiting Sivasangari in the third round is the tournament's seventh seed from Japan, Satomi Watanabe, who also advanced after defeating France's Melissa Alves 11-8, 11-5, 11-1. Earlier, Sivasangari became the sole Malaysian female representative still continuing the challenge in the tournament after Aira Azman and Noor Ainaa Amani Ampandi were eliminated early. National men's squash champion Ng Eain Yow also suffered a surprising defeat to an unseeded opponent in the second round earlier this morning.
