World’s Top Three Ranked Men To Compete On Waterfront Glass Court In San Francisco PSA
by Duffy Jennings
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – September 27, 2012 – NetSuite Inc. (NYSE: N), the industry's leading provider of cloud-based financials / Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software suites, today announced that the 2012 NetSuite Open Professional Squash Championships will bring the world’s best players, including the top three ranked players in the world, to San Francisco for the first time in a unique setting – an outdoor glass court on the city’s waterfront – October 20-23, 2012. James Willstrop and Nick Matthew of England and Gregory Gaultier of France, ranked number one, two and three in the world, respectively, by the Professional Squash Association, top the roster of main draw entries vying for $70,000 in prize money at the NetSuite Open.
Thousands of passersby will be able to watch the lightning-fast action for free when the Professional Squash Association World Tour event unfolds inside the four-wall court on the south lawn at Justin Herman Plaza opposite the Ferry Building.
The title sponsor of the NetSuite Open, NetSuite was co-founded by Evan Goldberg, Chief Technical Officer and Chairman of the Board. An avid squash player of over 20 years, Goldberg was instrumental in launching the inaugural tournament last year at Stanford University.
“This will be a world class event in a world class city. Thanks to NetSuite, the #1 cloud ERP software suites company in the world, the tournament will bring the world’s top squash players to San Francisco. We want people to experience the excitement of pro squash at this level,” said former national squash champion John Nimick, a U.S. Squash Hall of Famer and president of Event Engine, Inc., the tournament producer. “The outdoor court on the Embarcadero overlooking the San Francisco Bay is a compelling venue for squash enthusiasts, Bay Area residents and visitors alike.”
"All the top international players are excited about coming to San Francisco for this new major event. The setting sounds fantastic and we're looking forward to helping promote the sport in a city that has such a healthy and growing squash community," said James Willstrop, the #1 squash player in the world.
The NetSuite Open is the first international professional squash event on the West Coast to use the iconic “Glass Cube” court with two-way glass. It will make its Northern California debut in San Francisco, having previously captivated squash fans at New York’s Grand Central Terminal, the Field Museum in Chicago, Symphony Hall in Boston and in Egypt and Hong Kong.
The 18,000-pound, 32-by-20-foot court made by McWIL has walls of 12-millimeter tempered glass with a special ceramic frit dot fired into the interior surface that allows the players to see a colored, nearly opaque wall while spectators outside the court view through clear glass. It has an electronic scoreboard, a 42-inch TV, two 50-inch LCD screens and a six-speaker sound system.
The tournament’s official charities are SquashDrive (Bay Area) and Xtreme Squash (Palo Alto/Stanford), two urban youth enrichment organizations that offer academic support, life skills and squash instruction to underserved children. Their youth members will be invited to special clinics and to serve as ball kids for the professional matches.
In partnership with Bay Club San Francisco, the NetSuite Open will offer free squash instruction to the public during non-session times. Local pros will lead free clinics and free Try Squash! programs during the days that the glass court is in use.
Early rounds of the tournament will take place at Stanford University and local clubs October 17-19.
Squash is growing quickly around the globe and is bidding to be an Olympic sport in 2020. There are currently 800,000 squash players in the United States and 12 million players in 122 countries worldwide.
The NetSuite Open coincides with World Squash Day on October 20, when more than 10,000 players around the world will stage a global show of support for the Olympic bid by competing in the “2020 Challenge,” the biggest squash match in history.
In conjunction with the NetSuite Open, a World Squash Day “2020 College Challenge” will feature Stanford University, USC and University of California at Berkeley students in short mini-matches on the glass court on Saturday, October 20.
Some 400 reserved seats are available for the NetSuite Open, ranging in price from $30 to $250. For tickets, draws, schedule and more information, visit www.netsuiteopensquash.com.
Follow NetSuite's Cloud blog, NetSuite's Facebook page and @NetSuite Twitter handle for real-time updates.
About Event Engine: Event Engine, Inc. is a visionary event and entertainment marketing company specializing in the creation of unique athletic, musical, corporate and philanthropic events in extraordinary venues. Founded in 2000 by US Squash Hall of Fame member John Nimick, Event Engine has grown from the management of a single, but unique, annual professional squash championship in Grand Central Terminal to a portfolio of successful events in some of the best known locations in North America and with some of the best-known entertainment celebrities in the world. The Event Engine mission is to provide an unparalleled, highly valuable, highest quality result for clients, customer and corporate partners.
About NetSuite: NetSuite Inc. is the industry's leading provider of cloud-based financials / Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software suites. In addition to financials/ERP software suites, NetSuite offers a broad suite of applications, including accounting, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Professional Services Automation (PSA) and eCommerce that enable companies to manage most of their core business operations in its single integrated suite. NetSuite's "real-time dashboard" technology provides an easy-to-use view into up-to-date, role-specific business information.
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