Wildcards Yuk and Brownell Cause First Round Upsets As J.P. Morgan Tournament Of Champions Kicks Off

After winning the J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions Challenger on Saturday evening to qualify for the event, Hong Kong’s Chan Sin Yuk and USA’s Timothy Brownell both continued their incredible runs in New York, each saving multiple match balls to book their spots in the second round of the PSA World Tour Gold level J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions.

Hong Kong’s Yuk defeated Egypt’s Kenzy Ayman in the Challenger final to make the J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions, and her first round match rounded off the opening day’s play at the Gold level tournament, as she took on another Egyptian in World No.36 Zeina Mickawy.

The Hongkonger took the opening game on a tie-break 13-11, but found herself 2-1 behind after losing both the second and third games to the Egyptian, the latter also coming on a tie-break, 12-10.

The fourth game was a show in itself, with Yuk having to save seven match balls in the process to stay in the contest. She saved the first at 10-9 down, before saving a further six in the tie-break. Yuk eventually won it after 20 minutes of action 21-19, before then going on to win the deciding game 11-5 to advance to the semi-finals. She will now face World No.7 Salma Hany no Tuesday afternoon.

“I was just thinking about getting this game [the fourth] and all the cheering was making me want to fight more,” said the World No.43.

“I’m going to have a light squash session [tomorrow] and recover well.”

Meanwhile, after USA’s Brownell got the better of Egypt’s Aly Abou Eleinen in the Challenger 10 level final on Saturday, he took on another Egyptian in the form of Karim El Hammamy in the opening round of the J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions at Grand Central Terminal.

The first three games were all extremely tight, with neither player able to get on a clear run of points. The Egyptian claimed the first on a tie-break 12-10, with the next two being split evenly, with El Hammamy holding a 2-1 lead in the contest. Brownell fought back to take the fourth quickly, to send the match into a decider, with the home fans getting behind their favourite.

The fifth and deciding game of the match would go all the way to a tie-break, as the American came back from 10-8 down, saving two match balls in the process. He won four consecutive points to turn the game around, winning it 12-10 to the crowd’s delight. Brownell will now face Indian No.1 Saurav Ghosal in the second round on Tuesday afternoon.

“My mum is one of the brightest squash minds on the planet and she doesn’t get the credit she deserves, so for me to come out here and do this is just one small thing to show what an incredible woman, coach, player, everything she is,” Brownell said.

“This is what I love to do. I look out and see a lot of people I love in the crowd. Who wouldn’t want to do this?


“We’re doing a lot of good work at US Squash over at the National Centre. I’m a testament to it, I showed up nine months ago and I think [Ong] Beng Hee [US Squash Head National Coach] just had to laugh at me. To come out and get a win on the glass court is a dream, but we’re just getting started.”

The J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions continues on Monday, May 2, with a ten-match slate of first round action starting at 11:00 (GMT-4). All the action will be streamed live on SQUASHTV.

Men’s First Round Results: J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions
Moustafa El Sirty (EGY) bt Todd Harrity (USA) 3-2: 4-11, 11-2, 5-11, 12-10, 11-5 (63m)
[WC] Timothy Brownell (USA) bt Karim El Hammamy (EGY) 3-2: 10-12, 11-8, 9-11, 11-3, 12-10 (89m)

Men’s First Round Draw (continued): To Be Played Monday, May 2
Greg Lobban (SCO) v [9/16] James Willstrop (ENG)
[9/16] Baptiste Masotti (FRA) v Auguste Dussourd (FRA)
Nathan Lake (ENG) v [9/16] Victor Crouin (FRA)
[9/16] Shahjahan Khan (USA) v Sebastien Bonmalais (FRA)
[9/16] Nicolas Mueller (SUI) v Lucas Serme (FRA)
[9/16] Youssef Ibrahim (EGY) v Dimitri Steinmann (SUI)

Women’s First Round Results: J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions
Sabrina Sobhy (USA) bt Millie Tomlinson (ENG) 3-0: 11-7, 11-4, 11-4 (25m)
[WC] Chan Sin Yuk (HKG) bt Zeina Mickawy (EGY) 3-2: 13-11, 6-11, 10-12, 21-19, 11-5 (61m)
Nada Abbas (EGY) bt Ineta Mackevica (LAT) 3-0: 11-6, 11-7, 13-11 (29m)
Farida Mohamed (EGY) bt Haley Mendez (USA) 3-0: 11-4, 11-9, 11-3 (19m)

Women’s First Round Draw (continued): To Be Played Monday, May 2
Anna Serme (CZE) v [9/16] Danielle Letourneau (CAN)
[9/16] Lucy Turmel (ENG) v Tze Lok Ho (HKG)
Enora Villard (FRA) v [9/16] Sivasangari Subramaniam (MAS)
[9/16] Melissa Alves (FRA) v Donna Lobban (AUS)