The 2010 JP Morgan Tournament of Champions will feature three returning title-holders among the world’s best professional squash players entered in the draw of America’s largest professional squash championship to be played in Grand Central Terminal in New York from 22-28 January.

"This year’s Tournament of Champions features an extremely competitive draw,” said Tournament Director John Nimick.  “Five players have held the world No1 ranking, three of whom have also captured the coveted Tournament of Champions trophy.”  

The three returning title-holders are defending champion Gregory Gaultier of France and Egypt’s Amr Shabana and Ramy Ashour, who became world number one for the first time last week.  Karim Darwish, also of Egypt, who held the No1 ranking for most of 2009, will be the tournament’s top seed.

The JP Morgan Tournament of Champions, which continues to be Grand Central Terminal’s only annual world class sporting event, is a PSA Super Series event featuring a 32-player main draw and a 32-player qualification tournament.  

The tournament is sanctioned by the Professional Squash Association, the regulatory body for elite international men’s competition and the men’s world rankings - and is the first event of the 2010 PSA World Tour Super Series programme, full details of which will be announced shortly.

“The ToC is my favourite tournament on the tour,” said defending champion Gaultier, who enjoyed one month at the top of the world rankings late last year.  “My win last year was a dream that came true.  The Grand Central Terminal venue is just amazing - it is the best way to show people our sport by setting up a glass court in a place where tens of thousands of spectators pass by every day.”

Players representing 20 countries will compete in the Tournament of Champions, including two Americans, Julian Illingworth and Gilly Lane.  Illingworth, a native of Portland, Oregon, who now resides in New York City, has achieved the highest international ranking ever of any US player. Philadelphian Lane, the No2 ranking US player, has received a wild card entry into the draw.  

Egypt has eight players entered in the championship, so it is fitting that the newest sponsor of the tournament is Egypt Tourism Authority, which will give away two free trips to Egypt during the Tournament.  “Egypt has been well represented by our squash players who have achieved such great success on the PSA global tour,” said Elsayed Khalifa, Director of the Egyptian Tourist Authority in New York.  “We look forward to supporting them in the Tournament as well as the opportunity to let the fans and Grand Central spectators know more about Egypt as a great travel destination.  We are thrilled with our association for the first time with this prestigious tournament and can’t wait to celebrate its success.”

In addition to title sponsor JP Morgan, the Tournament of Champions is supported by Silver Sponsors Lexington Partners, Frank Crystal & Co., Inc., EatStrong and the Egypt Tourism Authority. Bronze sponsors supporting the world’s largest spectator squash event are Dunlop, Big Brothers Big Sisters of NYC, Grand Hyatt New York, The Campbell Apartment, and the Columbia University Center for Shoulder, Elbow & Sports Medicine.   

Official Website: www.tocsquash.com