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Princeton University Athletics
El Halaby Makes International History At Major Professional Event
February 21, 2004 | Men's Squash
Feb. 21, 2004
NEW YORK CITY - Yasser El Halaby made Princeton history in his first season of squash as a Tiger. In his second, he's made international history. El-Halaby became the first amateur ever to qualify for the Tournament of Champions by defeating two of the Top 100 professional players in the world.
El Halaby was given a wild card into the qualifying draw of the Tournament of Champions, which is held in New York City. The draw decides the eight qualifiers who will join the top 24 players in this international professional tournament, which is considered one of the biggest in the sport. El-Halaby was one of two U.S. collegiate players to be given a wild card; Yale's Julian Illingworth was the other.
El Halaby defeated No. 90 David Phillips of Canada on Thursday night in three games. Professional squash is scored different than collegiate squash; games go to 15 points, and scoring occurs on each point, not just for the server. El Halaby won 15-4, 15-2, 15-6 to reach the second round. Illingworth fell in the first round.
El Halaby was put to the test Friday night against No. 60 Rafael Alarcon, the top-ranked player from Brazil. The two players split the first four games, but El Halaby got the job done in the fifth, securing his place in history with a 15-10 win.
"Yasser was incredible," head coach Bob Callahan said about El Halaby's second victory. "He really gutted out a win in that fifth game."
El Halaby was finally eliminated on Saturday in the first round of the tournament, although he challenged the 11th-ranked player in the world, Canada's Graham Ryding, in three hard-fought games. Ryding advanced 15-12, 15-10, 15-12.