New (old) sport in town
Houston Squash Open draws 24 players from 11 countries this week
Small dense balls ping off of the glass walls Wednesday night in an industrial warehouse alongside the West Sam Houston Parkway in northwest Houston. It is the second night of five where the newly minted Houston Squash Club is hosting the Houston Squash Open, an 11country, 24-player tournament with a cash prize of $110,000.
Yet, the real prize event organizers look to gain from this year’s tournament is to grow a wider audience in Houston for squash — a sport that has historically been tied to Great Britain and that nation’s former colonies.
Jahanzeb Khan, co-owner and coach at the Houston Squash Club who organized the tournament, said the sport has come a long way in the decade since he came to Houston.
“When I first got here 10 years ago, I joined another club where we legitimately had only had two players,” Khan said about his journey. “This event here is a very proud moment for Houston and for all of us.”
For Khan, the presence of a large Pakistani community in Houston has set the table for the sport to grow locally.
“Squash is a huge thing in Pakistan, like the NBA or NFL here,” he added. “So when people find out we have squash here it’s a big thing. Now, in this club we just opened, we have 90 families and 200 regular playing people. I am very confident after this event we will grow massively.”
Khan said the club opened up its location in early November in order to celebrate the sport of squash by providing experienced players and beginners an open space to better their skills.
Ten officially-sized squash courts are located inside of the industrial space where members can come for a variety of events. Leagues for adults and youths are available during the weekdays, social nights every Tuesday and Saturday and happy hours with open courts for all every Friday.
With the increased COVID-19 infection rate in the United States, Khan said, there were
questions on whether the Professional Squash Association would need to cancel or relocate this year’s event and if international players would travel to Houston.
“Right now with the new (omicron) variant coming in, the international board was very concerned about us having the tournament but our regulations aren’t as strong here which helps in doing these big events,” Khan said. “It’s a big thing for Houston to have an event of this caliber. We are hosting the No. 1 player in the world.”
That top ranked international player, Egypt’s Ali Farag, expressed thanks to Khan and the new club for hosting the event after defeating Germany’s Raphael Kandra in three sets.
“We know it’s not easy organizing something like this during these times but they are doing a fantastic job,” Farag said in a post-match interview. “Congratulations on the new facility.”
According to Khurram Siddiqui, co-owner of Houston Squash Club, the club hopes to use this year’s event to connect youths.
“What a lot of people don’t know is that a lot of colleges offer scholarships for squash. We have a couple kids who are on full rides to a couple schools. One just went to Yale and another one just got a full ride to Princeton,” Siddiqui said. “They don’t realize if students try and go through basketball, baseball or soccer the competition is huge. Whereas squash is still an untapped resource with a lot of dollars for kids if they apply for these scholarships.”
Siddiqui added the club is also where local students can get physical education credits.
“A lot of the schools are starting to get involved,” he said. “The schools in the area offer an option where students, instead of doing P.E. or gym at school, can outbound that class to come over here after school.”
Going into 2022, Khan — who has managed and coached some of the best internationally ranked players — hopes to make the new club a nucleus for international squash in the region.
“I’m trying to make this club the hub for international squash players,” he said. “When they come here and train here then that can excite the local community to join them and see them.”
The third day of matches will resume at 5 p.m. Thursday.