Brownell & Yuk Win ToC Wildcards

USA's Timothy Brownell and Hong Kong's Chan Sin Yuk were victorious in the finals of the JP Morgan Tournament of Champions Challenger at Grand Central Terminal in New York to book their places as wildcards for the Gold level JP Morgan Tournament of Champions beginning on Sunday 1st May.

Brownell will feature in the main draw of the event for the second time in his career thanks to a four-game victory over Egypt's Aly Abou Eleinen in the final of the Challenger 10 level tournament.

The American took the first game in front of a packed home crowd, but Eleinen, who plays his collegiate squash at Penn, fought back to take the second and level the contest. From there though, it was Brownell who took control, and came through to win in four, to book his spot in the Gold level tournament, where he will face Egypt's Karim El Hammamy.

"Obviously, this is one of the biggest stages in squash, and it's easy to lose yourself in the moment, so the motto of the day was to just enjoy it, try and be myself," Brownell said.

"To do that, you have to play the right shots and I feel like I came out in the first game playing a bit scared. My heart rate was way up, probably a little bit anxious. Sometimes you have to hit the tin and I can be pretty good at that!

"There is nothing like playing here in the US! To play her, it feels like a second home. This is one of the best!"

The women's final was won by Hong Kong's Chan Sin Yuk, after the world No.49 overcame Egypt's Kenzy Ayman, the tournament's No.6 seed, in straight games to book her place in the Gold event.

Yuk, who also won the Hamilton Open in the United States earlier this season, came into the final as the favourite, but she was made to work for it by her younger opponent, with both of the first two games going to tie-breaks.

She was able to come through the first 14-12, before winning the second 12-10, and with that, she kept the momentum. The 19-year-old went on to win in three, and will now face Egypt's Zeina Mickawy in the first round of the Tournament of Champions on Sunday evening.

"It means a lot, especially playing in Grand Central! This is the first time I have played here, and now to win a title here and to get a wildcard for the TOC!" Yuk explained.

"This means a lot to me! I am very excited to play tomorrow here again. Hopefully it will be in front of a big crowd!"