Columbia’s Chan and Team USA’s Brownell Win ToC Challenger and Qualify for Main Draw

Columbia freshman Chan Sin Yuk and Team USA’s Timmy Brownell captured the 2022 J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions Challenger titles, qualifying for the ToC main draw on the opening night of glass court play in New York City’s Grand Central Station.

After upsetting the top seed Sana Ibrahim in the semifinals Friday night, Hong Kong’s Chan met another Egyptian in the final in Kenzy Ayman. A closely-contested final saw Yuk save multiple game balls in the first and second games to hold on 14-12, 12-10 before pulling away to clinch the match 11-5 after thirty minutes.

“It means a lot, especially playing in Grand Central,” Chan said. “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 another big crowd.”

The nineteen-year-old world No. 49 will continue her debut in Grand Central with a first-round match against Egypt’s world No. 34 Zeina Mickawy at 7pm local time.

The men’s final followed on and pitted Penn senior Aly Abou Eleinen against world No. 83 Brownell, a Harvard graduate. The vocal crowd had friends and supporters of both players in attendance, and were treated to a thrilling fifty-seven-minute final that Brownell edged 11-8, 8-11, 14-12, 11-9.

“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.”

Brownell will make his second career ToC main draw appearance against Egypt’s world No. 29 Karim El Hammamy Sunday at 4pm local time. The ToC Challenger title is the twenty-four-year-old’s first career PSA title, two years after turning professional and basing himself at the Arlen Specter US Squash Center in Philadelphia.

“This title shows the good work that we’re putting in at the Specter Center,” Brownell said. “It goes under the radar, but Coach Beng Hee, Coach Bridget and Adam Hamill are running a great program and it feels great to get a result for them.”

Sunday will see the first half of main draw play take place on the glass court with matches starting at 12pm noon local time.