The Tournament of Champions squash smorgasbord in Grand Central has come to an end, and Frenchman Gregory Gaultier–picked in these very cyber-pages to win–owns the TOC trophy. It took Gaultier 62 minutes to off Englishman Nick Matthew, but he did it, 3 games to 1.
“At the moment I am so tired I can’t feel my body,” Gaultier said after the match. “It is unbelievable– had to give a big push from start to finish.”
According to the TOC press materials, it was standing room only around the Plexiglas bubble in Vanderbilt Hall, with people lined up four deep.
Countless commuters have wandered by the squash proceedings all week, as was the hope by staging this elite-level tournament in the greatest train station in the greatest city in the world. But one problem is, the typical commuter has about a minute to spare as he or she is pulling a Latrainian Tomlinson en route to the 6:12 to Mamaroneck. It’s hardly the proper way to appreciate the give-and-take of high-level squash.
So TOC organizers took the extraordinary step of affixing viewers to their seats and to the Vanderbilt Hall floor with Crazy Glue.
“The crowd was glued to their seats,” reads the Tournament of Champions press release, “and to their standing spots in the front of the court.”
That helped make for a sizeable crowd, though Grand Central officials were unhappy to learn of the dried glue on the Vanderbilt’s beloved Tennessee Pink Marble floors.
[image: squashpics.com ]