Team USA’s Todd Harrity and Chris Hanson recorded first-round victories at the $70,000 Motor City Open presented by the Suburban Group Tuesday, January 29, at the Birmingham Athletic Club in Detroit, Michigan.
Harrity, world No. 48, defeated Trinity graduate and world No. 58 Vikram Malhotra 11-4, 11-4, 11-7, to set up a second-round clash with Egyptian world No. 10 Mohamed Abouelghar.
“The U.S. hasn’t been a dominant force on the men’s pro singles squash tour ever,” Harrity said. “Guys like Chris and I—and a bunch of good young players coming up as well—are really working hard to try to change that. When I think about these things, it’s really exciting to think about the future of squash in this country.”
Two-time U.S. champion Hanson recorded his first career PSA win over New Zealand’s world No. 42 Campbell Grayson 11-5, 11-7, 11-6. Hanson, world No. 63, will face Egypt’s world No. 17 Omar Mosaad less than two weeks after the pair faced off at the J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions. Mosaad won their New York City encounter in a close three games 11-8, 12-10, 11-8.
“The state of U.S. squash is getting better,” Hanson said. “At a tournament like this, where guys in the top 10 or 20 are playing, we’re not quite there yet, but with some wins like this, we’ll make it known that the Americans are making a push.”
Matches are streaming and scoring live on usprosquashseries.com/live.
For more tournament coverage and information visit themotorcityopen.com.