Team USA’s Olivia Weaver reached back-to-back Platinum finals for the first time in her career after reaching her first final at the Sprott Tournament of Champions presented by Crowd Street Thursday, January 29, in New York City’s Grand Central Terminal.
Last month, Weaver made history by becoming just the second American to reach a Platinum final at the Hong Kong Open, following Amanda Sobhy at Tournament of Champions in 2016.
This week in New York, Weaver played some for of the best squash of her career, reaching the final dropping just one game all tournament until she met world No. 1 Hania El Hammamy in the final.
Weaver was on the precipice of her first Platinum title up 9-3 in the fifth game against the reigning ToC champion, but the Egyptian pulled off a remarkable comeback with eight straight points to win the match.
Despite the difficult result, Weaver reflected on the match and her goals to go one step further than being a Platinum finalist.
“Obviously not the result we were hoping for, but I’m really grateful for the opporunity to compete in front of this crowd all week,” Weaver said. “It’s been amazing. I love what I do and the fact that I have the chance to compete in front of crowds like this and on stages like this. I feel very lucky. I want to thank my husband and my parents. My team and my incredible sponsors, I couldn’t do any of this without all of you. I’m more motivated than ever to get back to work and lift this trophy. Huge congrats to Hania for pushing through, she’s world No. 1 for a reason. I look forward to working hard to be able to challenger her to win titles like this.”
Weaver heads to Chicago next to compete in the Platinum Windy City Open, February 5-11, where she is the four seed.
