TOC Confirms 20% Prize Money Boost for Women by Howard Harding
5 November 2014
- Promoters of the J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions have confirmed
that the 2015 Women's Squash Association WSA Gold event will be boosted
by a 20% prize-fund rise.
The world's largest squash spectator event and annually one of the
world's major squash championships will take place at Grand Central
Terminal in New York from 16-23 January 2015.
"As we celebrate 18 years of hosting the J.P. Morgan Tournament of
Champions in Grand Central Terminal, I am delighted to announce that we
are increasing the prize money for the men's and women's draws," said
John Nimick, President of Event Engine, Inc., the tournament promoter.
"All the very best players compete here - they love the spectacular
Grand Central venue, the New York energy and the world's most
knowledgeable, and vocal, spectators. The players always give us their
very best - and we are proud to reward their skill and dedication by
increasing the prize money."
The J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions is the only sports championship
hosted annually in Grand Central Terminal and playing on the
four-walled glass court under the Terminal's spectacular chandeliers is
the dream of every professional squash player. The 2015 tournament is a
men's Professional Squash Association (PSA) World Series event and a
Women's Squash Association (WSA) sanctioned Gold Tour event..
The $60,000 WSA Gold event is expected to draw the world's top players,
led by defending champion Nicol David, the Malaysian superstar who has
just celebrated 100 consecutive months at the top of the WSA world
rankings - a period in excess of eight years!
J.P Morgan, a global financial services company, has committed to a
three-year sponsorship renewal and is returning as the Platinum title
sponsor of the tournament for the seventh year.
The combination of the perennial sold-out stadium seating and the
public viewing available on the front wall by what is expected to be
more than 200,000 Grand Central commuters during tournament week makes
the J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions the largest squash spectator
event in the world. Tickets range in price from $8 to $170 and may be
purchased at www.tocsquash.com
The championship debuted as the US Professional Championship in 1930
and was renamed the Tournament of Champions in 1992 when it was
presented in the third of its five years at the Winter Garden in the
World Financial Center. The tournament moved to Grand Central Terminal
in 1995, where its annual presence since has been interrupted only by
the Terminal's renovation from 1996 -1998. The Tournament of Champions
has truly lived up to its name - all but two of the titleholders have
either been No.1 in the world rankings or a world champion.