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Xede
presents
2007
MCC Schedule
Friday
10/05/06
4:30 - 9:30 pm: First round, Suburban Infiniti Pro Main
Draw (8 man invitational format)
7:00 – 10pm: First round, Smith Barney Doubles Pro-Am
(pros paired with amateurs in a knockout format)
Saturday 10/06/06
10am –12 pm: Deroy Foundation junior squash clinic, all
courts. Followed by brunch.
10 am – 4:00pm: Smith Barney Doubles Pro-Am main draw
and consolation matches.
2 -3.30 pm: Ladies Clinic, three courts.
4:00
– 7:00pm: Suburban Infiniti Professional main draw semi-finals.
Court 3.
7:00pm: BAC/MCC Seventies Party (please make your reservations
today. Guests welcome)
Sunday
10/07/06
11 am – 1pm: Smith Barney Doubles Pro-Am - consolation
final (11 am) followed by Pro-Am final.
1:30
pm: “Lightning Round,” winner-take-all, best of one rally
challenge played by pros not competing in final.
2 pm:
Suburban Infiniti Professional Main Draw Final. Awards presentation
will immediately follow the completion of the final (Reception
in Racquet Room follows ceremony).
Smith Barney presents
Quote
of the Day
“The (Motor City tournament) should be the blueprint for how club
tournaments are run because of the involvement of the members and
the staff. And because of the respectful way the players are treated.
”
-
Mark Chaloner, veteran player and former PSA president, on the MCO.
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Battle for Motor City crown opens Friday
2007 MCC top seed John White (right) met this year's
#2 seed Wael El Hindi (left) in the 2005 Motor City semis. This
year, they are on a collision course for the final. (Photo
copyright Birmingham Athletic Club)
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| First-round
matches include Tuominen/Beng Hee heavyweight battle; White opens
in title defense
By Henry Payne
Birmingham, Mich. – The 2007 Motor City Challenge, presented
by Suburban Infiniti, kicks off Friday night with an all-star
lineup of eight of the world’s premier players. Top seed and world
#8 John White – he of the 170-plus mph howitzer strokes – will
debut against veteran, and BAC crowd favorite, Mark Chaloner of
England. White, a Scot now living in Philadelphia, will be gunning
for his second consecutive championship in the Motor City tournament.
Four-seed
Ollie Tuominen of Finland and fifth-seeded Malaysian Ong Beng
Hee will be the first match of the evening at 4:30 pm. Closely
bunched at numbers 17 and 18 in the world respectively, the pair
promise the evening’s most intriguing match. White/Chaloner follow
at 5:30, then two seed Wael El Hindi of Egypt gets his first challenge
from Belgium’s Stephan Castelyn. Third seed Stuart Boswell, making
his Motor City debut, gets the final 7:30 slot against Canadian
star Graham Ryding.
The format for the Challenge will span three days beginning with
the four matches Friday. Semifinal matches will be Saturday, October
6, beginning at 4:45 pm with the final scheduled for Sunday at
2 pm.
Suburban Infiniti will showcase its new facilities in nearby Troy
and Novi as the Motor City’s lead sponsor again this year. This
marks the sixth year the Suburban group has been involved with
the Motor City event. On Thursday night, the BAC and Suburban
Infiniti successfully hosted a charity reception to benefit the
American Cancer Society’s “Making Strides Against Breast Cancer
Walk.”
Additionally,
the DeRoy Foundation has made a generous donation for the benefit
of Detroit-area junior squash. The players will host a special
youth clinic Saturday morning for all interested junior squash
players beginning at 10:00 am.
Limited tickets
and group packages begin at $225. Tickets are still available.
Please call Tim Gardella at (248) 646-5050 or email him at tgardella@mail.birminghamathleticclub.com.
In 2004, Finn Ollie Tuominen (left)
upset curretn world #1 Amr Shabana (right) on his way to the Motor
City final. Tuominen, seeded four, is gunning for the final again
this year.. (Photo copyright Birmingham Athletic Club)
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Greenstone's Jewelers presents
Player
Profile
John White
Scotland
John White,
world #8, has been a perennial success story when competing in
the Motor City. A former world #1, White defeated Ireland’s Liam
Kenny in last year’s competition, a year after making it to the
money round before losing to Canada’s legendary Jonathan Power.
White’s strong play has solidified him as the top seed of this
year’s eight-man invitational.
At 34, "Big John's" 14-year professional resume embodies
a never-ending list of achievements that includes 12 PSA Tour
titles, 31 Tour final appearances, and stints in which he represented
Scotland at the European Championships (1998), the World Cup (1998)
and the World Team Championships (1998).
He also has the distinction of being the game’s hardest hitter
after clocking in at a blistering 172 mph (current world record).
Born in Queensland, Australia, White’s citizenship belongs to
Scotland, yet he and his family now reside in Philadelphia. He’s
exhibited various degrees of success since moving to the United
States in March 2005. Since then, he has reached eight PSA Tour
finals in the US—winning four.
Having already achieved one goal this year (to make the top eight),
White has high hopes of working his way back into the Top Four
by year’s end.
MCC
Notes
Chaloner
returns. After 15 years on the PSA tour, 34-year old
Englishman Mark Chaloner announced his retirement at the Motor City
last year.
But you can't keep a good man down. . . or at least, you can't keep
him away from a tournament he loves.
Last year, Chaloner said he chose the occasion because the Motor
City event was his favorite tourney.
The feeling is mutual, and the MCC is extending him an invite to
take another bow . . . . |
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