Grasshopper Cup Returns To The PSA Tour

24 Apr 2012

The Grasshopper Cup, a popular Swiss event which boasts Jansher Khan and Alex Gough among its former champions, returns to the PSA World Tour this week after an 11-year absence.

The 2012 PSA International 25 Grasshopper Cup, with a prize-fund of $25,000, will take place at the Grasshopper Club in Zurich from 25-28 April.

England's Daryl Selby is the event's top seed. The 29-year-old world No11 is expected to face local star Nicolas Mueller in the final. Mueller, a 22-year-old from Hirzel, near Zurich, reached 21 in the PSA world rankings in February to become the highest-ranked Swiss player of all-time.

The first Grasshopper Cup took place in 1994, when Pakistan's world No1 Jansher Khan beat Englishman Peter Marshall in the final in Zurich. Later winners included Glen Wilson (NZL), Alex Gough (WAL), Stephen Meads (ENG), Olli Tuominen (FIN), John Williams (AUS) and Mark Cairns (ENG) in the last staging in 2001.

Stephan Buchli has been the driving force behind the 2012 championship.

"Why is the Grasshopper Cup back? I guess I just got tired of travelling to good squash tournaments around the world (Cyprus, New York, Manchester, London etc.) and wanted something similar in our back garden," said Buchli.

"Actually when I turned 47 last year, I decided I just wanted to do something like that in my lifetime. Then Mark Meyer and Michael Bär came in and said they would enjoy that too and they would help. So, within a very short period of time the plan was on the table and the work began.

"There has been lots of organising and lots of fun with the guys. We are so happy we took that decision and we would like to thank all our sponsors and helpers who made this dream come true."

Alex Gough, now CEO of the PSA, added: "It is great to see the Grasshopper Cup come back onto the International scene. The event holds great personal memories and we hope that as Nicolas Mueller rises up the world rankings, as we all predict he will, the event will grow from strength to strength too."

Finland's world No22 Olli Tuominen is the only player in the draw to have featured in previous editions of the event. Champion in 1999, the 33-year-old from Helsinki reached the final again the following year - and is seeded to make the 2012 semi-finals!

Qualifying is already underway, with the main draw first round taking place tomorrow (Wednesday).

1st round draw:
[1] Daryl Selby (ENG) v Kashif Shuja (NZL)
Jan Koukal (CZE) v Qualifier
Charles Sharpes (ENG) v Qualifier
[3] Olli Tuominen (FIN) v (Lucky Loser)
[4] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) v Qualifier
Kristian Frost Olesen (DEN) v Reiko Peter (SUI)
Omar Abdel Meguid (EGY) v Yann Perrin (FRA)
[2] Nicolas Mueller (SUI) v Qualifier

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