Squash 101 and where you can watch the world’s top players battle in Chicago
CHICAGO — Squash is about to bring some international flavor to Chicago this Winter!
We’re not talking about the actual food though, but the fast moving sport of squash.
It returns to Chicago for the Windy City Open 2022 at the University Club of Chicago February 23- March 2, 2022.
Top squash players from around the world will battle for the coveted $500,000 purse, which will be split equally between the men’s and women’s events. The Windy City Open is one of the richest events in the sports’ calendar year.
The WGN News Now team took a trip to the University Club of Chicago to learn about the squash plus give it a try.
For starters, it’s a fast-paced racquet sport, played by two or four players on a four-walled court with a hallow rubber ball.
“It’s like athletic chess,” says Yoni Ellous, squash director at the University Club of Chicago. “[They] are choosing either left or right, front or back with having the ball bounce only one time, and rally’s being up to few minutes long, sometimes several hundred shots long.”
The Windy City Open will be held on the building’s ninth floor on an all-glass court.
“We’re going to have athletes from all over the world, 96 of them, compete for the half a million-dollar prize pool,” says Ellous. “So, expect to see athleticism, movement, running around, diving for balls, just a lot of action all around.”
Tickets for the Windy City Open 2022 are now on sale.
Squash fans who are unable to purchase tickets for the event can watch it live on SquashTV. The Windy City Open semi finals and finals will be shown live on the channels of The Professional Squash Association (PSA) World Tour’s broadcast partners.