Patrick Chifunda vs Ahmed Hamza in the 2008 Rochester ProAm Final

Patrick Chifunda vs Ahmed Hamza in the 2008 Rochester ProAm Final

Welcome to the 7th annual Rochester Pro-Am Squash Tournament, presented by the Rochester Squash Racquets Association. This is a sanctioned $4K Satellite event on the Professional Squash Association world tour and boasts a 13 man qualifying draw and a 16 man main draw. In the past we have had players rated from No. 70 to No. 200 in the world hailing from USA, Australia, Egypt, Pakistan, Canada, Colombia, Austria, South Africa, Mexico, Botswana, Zambia, Japan, Argentina, Wales, England, France and Brazil.

Past Rochester Pro events: 2007, 2006,
Past SquashSite features: 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005
Past coverage on SquashTalk: 2008, 2004

As in 2007, on the cards again this year is the annual Rochester City Am tournament, an amateur competition in conjunction with the pro event providing the local amateur squash players to join in the spirit of fun and competitive squash play.

A little history from the tournament’s founder/creator Eric Hernady:

Our event started six years ago when I met John Power at his camp at Dartmouth College. He was coordinating the North American PSA circuit, and tried to convince me to start a tournament of my own with his help. I was very enthusiastic about bringing pro squash to Rochester which hadn’t seen a tournament like that in many years. The following year (2002) I along with John’s help had our first “challenger” event with a 13-man draw. The players were predominantly US-based teaching and touring pros ranging from#120-#300 in the world.

Each of the first three years we had an amateur event along with the PSA tournament. After the third year we elevated the tournament to full “PSA Tour” status by hosting a “satellite” event sans the amateur component. In 2005 and 2006 we had a full qualifying draw and main draw with a total of 28 players ranging from #70-#250 in the world. The event has had 15 countries represented and players now make the trip from many parts of the globe.

The tournament has become a springboard for a number of players to reach higher rankings and higher status tournaments. Our past champions include Shawn DeLierre, Rafael F. Alarcon, Karim Yehia, Ritwik Bhattacharya and last year Miguel Angel Rodriguez. Although I had originally envisioned US-born players using this event as a way to earn points closer to home, I still consider our event successful. That original goal may in fact be realized in the coming years with the recent successes of young American players like Christopher Gordon and Julian Illingworth and our strong finish in the Pan Am games.

The unexpected reward has been meeting and watching so many incredible athletes from around the world. They are enthusiastic, interesting young players that are respectful and a joy to have here in our city. I hope the word continues to spread about the hospitality of Rochester and its squash community.

Eric Hernady
Founder - Rochester Pro PSA Squash Tournament