US Pan American Squash Team

Pan Am Team

Squad

Natalie Grainger

Latasha Khan

Coach

Photo Gallery

Schedule & Results

TV Schedule

Selection Criteria

Pan American Fed Cup History

July 13-19, 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

At mid-day Sunday, Julian Illingworth, who just recently became the highest ranked USA Squash player in PSA history, had probably this biggest win in his career as he beat the #1 seed and defending Pan American Gold Medalist Shahier Razik (CAN) 3-0. Razik happens to also be #26 on the PSA World Rankings ladder. By the end of the day, Julian had a shot at notching his second 'upset' and gaining a spot in the finals of the Pan American games. Just getting to the semis assured him of a medal of some color. Bronze was not the color Julian was ready to settle for.

Before the win over Razik had time to settle in with Julian, he had to start his recovery process to play his semi-finals match slated to go on a few hours later. The recovery process was comforted a bit as Julian got to watch his would be opponent get stretched through a 4 game marathon match. Migquel Angel Rodriguez (COL) took down Rafel Alacorn (BRA) to set up the semi-final showdown with Julian.

Come match time, Rodriguez (PSA Ranked #46) became the 2nd player Julian would have to face Sunday who was ranked ahead of Illingworth on the PSA ranking list. With one upset in the books, Julian was poised to add another one and came out firing.

The first game was a 21 minute back and forth battle that Illingworth took 9-7. Julian might have overestimated Rodriguez's stamina in the 2nd game and lost it 9-4 in a quick 12 minutes. Julian pulled things back together in game three and quickly went up 8-3 only to see Rodriguez make an amazing run to rattle off 7 unanswered points to steal the game 10-8. Down 2-1 and with the obvious momentum in the Colombian's corner, it looked like this was not to be Julian's day. Julian sensed Rodriguez had used everything he had left in game 3 and was running on empty in the fourth. Julian took advantage and took the 4th game 9-1 in a blistering 5 minutes to send the match to the 5th.

This match became the first match of the tournament to go to the 5th game and the taste of Pan Am gold drove both players to find something left in the tanks. The fifth game, the longest game of the match at 24 mins, brought the best squash out of both competitors. In the end, this was Julian's day. He secured his second upset in a 12 hour period and pulled out the 5th 9-6. Final line 9-7, (9-4), (10-8), 9-1, 9-6 (1hr 35mins).

Julian's guts, fitness, and smart play has secured the highest USA medal finish in Pan American history (Preston Quick won bronze in 2003) and its safe to say Silver is not on his mind. This is the first time a USA player has made it to the Individual Pan American Finals in the history of the sport being included in the games.

The hopes for USA Gold leading up to the tournament were all focused on Natalie Grainger, who has cruised into the women's finals, with little buzz on the USA men. Julian has created all the buzz of the tournament and has given the Red, White, and Blue a shot for double individual gold. He has to pull one more 'upset' and take down Mexico's #1 and 2nd seeded Eric Galvez who has cruised to the finals with three straight 3-0 wins. Galvez is PSA ranked #37 but its safe to say Julian is the favorite. The finals are set for 7:30pm (EST) after the women's final. Stay tuned for live updates from Rio.