Andy Taylor. Host. Announcer. Qatar Classic Squash Championship 2017. Gregory Gaultier

Emcee for the Qatar Squash Federation. Doha, Qatar

Andy Taylor. Host. Announcer. Qatar Classic Squash Championship 2017Doha, Qatar

Since 2017, Andy Taylor has emceed the Qatar Classic Squash Championship, one of six Platinum events on the PSA Squash Tour.

There, he hosts the official Player’s Dinner – introduces the athletes during player walk-on – interviews the victors on the glass court for international broadcasters – and hosts the championship trophy presentations.

In 2019, Andy was fortunate enough to emcee the PSA Mens’ World Championship – Qatar’s fifth time hosting the sport’s most prestigious tournament.

Today, the Qatar Classic is the second Platinum event on the PSA Squash Tour calendar. With the start of the 2024-25 season, the top-level Majors include the PSA World Championships and the Diamond-level Egyptian and British Opens (which bookend the season). The Platinum events – now featuring fields of 32 with no qualifying and no 1st-Round Byes – include Paris Squash, Qatar Classic, US Open, Hong Kong Open, Tournament of Champions and El Gouna.

The season culminates with a year-end championship featuring the sport’s top-8 players at the PSA Squash Tour Finals.

Tournament Recaps
Emcee Andy Taylor. 2021 Qatar Classic Squash Championship. 17th Anniversary
Andy Taylor Announcer. 2019 Qatar PSA Mens World Champion Tarek Momen
Andy Taylor Stadium Announcer 2018 Qatar Classic
Andy Taylor Stadium Announcer 2017 Qatar Classic

Coverage of Squash Announcer Andy Taylor

In 2018, SquashSite‘s Fram Gommedy and Steve Cubbins interviewed Andy Taylor during their coverage of the Qatar Classic Squash Championship. The video provides a glimpse into how Andy landed the role of Qatar Classic announcer, and reveals the tongue-in-cheek, contentious relationship between Andy and the “squash establishment.” Fram also dives into Andy’s relationship with his wife and his proudest achievements as a voice actor, broadcaster and stadium announcer.

In 2017, during Andy’s debut as the Qatar Classic compere, Squash Player Magazine‘s Ian McKenzie interviewed Andy for the December-2017 issue. The two discuss Andy’s rural existance in Southwest Missouri, his broadcasting career, how he first landed the role as the Voice of the US Open Tennis Championships, and how his experience as a tennis-host led to his new role with the Qatar Squash Federation.

Andy Taylor in the December 2017 issue of Squash Player Magazine
Emcee Andy Taylor. Doha Squash. History Men
Emcee Andy Taylor. Doha Squash. History Women

Doha Champions since Andy Taylor’s 2017 Qatar Classic debut

2024. The second Platinum event of the newly structured, rebranded PSA Squash Tour – the Qatar Classic returned to late October, allowing Andy Taylor to once again serve as tournament emcee. With the sport recently added to the Olympic roster for the LA 2028 Summer Olympics, Platinum events like the Qatar Classic became 32-player draws (no qualifying, no 1st-Round Byes) . . . meanwhile two events, the Egyptian and British Opens, were elevated to Diamond status (3-rounds of qualifying plus 1st-Round BYEs for the top-16 talents). At the 2024 Qatar Classic, on the women’s side, Nour ElSherbini finally completed her collection of Major trophies. Before her triumph, Doha remained the only Major title she hadn’t won. In the championship match, she defeated World #2 Nouran Gohar in a breathtaking Final, where ElSherbini came-back from 2-games down to capture the title; a 96-minute battle where Gohar played with a broken nose in the deciding game. Meanwhile, on the men’s side, Diego Elias dominated, dropping only a single game the entire tournament – defeating Tarek Momen in the Quarters, World #1 Ali Farag in the Semifinals, and World #2 Mostafa Asal in the Final.

2023. The Qatar Classic was once again held in early September – while Andy Taylor was in New York for his 22nd consecutive season as the Voice of the US Open Tennis Championships. For the first time since Laura Massaro’s triumph in 2015, the tournament also featured the sport’s top female talents. On the women’s side, World #3 Hania El Hammamy captured her 6th Platinum title, upsetting 7-time World Champion Nour ElSherbini in the Final. Meanwhile, the championship match on the men’s side featured two former champions, where Ali Farag earned his 3rd Qatar Classic title (2018, 2020, 2022) over 2021 champion Diego Elias.

2022. The Qatar Classic moved to early September, becoming the first Platinum event of the new season. Unfortunately, Andy Taylor was still in New York – in his 21st year as the Voice of the US Open Tennis Championships – and could not attend. Once again, Mohammed ElShorbagy lifted the trophy, capturing a record 4th Qatar Classic title (2013, 2015, 2017, 2022). The Beast also became the only man to reach five Qatar Classic Finals, extending his record of Doha Finals to seven (World Championship Final in 2012 and 2014). Recent Harvard graduate, Victor Crouin of France, reached his debut Platinum Final and cracked the PSA’s top-10 for the first time.

2021. In his first Major Final, Peru’s Diego Elias captured his debut PSA Platinum title, defeating World #2 Paul Coll of New Zealand in the championship match. Coll, who captured his first Platinum title two months prior at the British Open, became a 6-time Major Finalist including three consecutive Finals appearances in Doha – at the 2019 PSA World Championship, along with Finalist runs at the 2020 and 2021 Qatar Classic Squash Championships.

2020. In March, due to the global spread of COVID-19, all professional squash events were cancelled following the Canary Wharf Classic, abruptly ending the 2019-2020 season. Six months later, play finally resumed at the Manchester Open, followed by the delayed PSA World Tour Finals, relocated to Egypt. At the time, the United States was dealing with a devastating second surge of COVID-19. As a result, both the Oracle NetSuite Open and US Open were cancelled. Andy Taylor suspended all travel. But the Qatar Classic resiliently endured under strict COVID protocols, as Ali Farag won his second successive Doha title, defeating World Champion Tarek Momen in the Semifinals and Paul Coll in the Final. The World #1 extended his Doha win-streak to 10 consecutive match victories since a Quarterfinal loss to Mohamed Elshorbagy in 2017. Farag missed the 2019 World Championships in Doha due to a family emergency.

2019. For the 5th time since 1998, Qatar hosted the PSA Men’s World Championship in Doha. After reaching the Final of 2018’s World Championship in Chicago, Epypt’s Tarek Momen earned 6 breathless victories, becoming only the 18th man to capture the PSA World Championship title. He and wife Raneem El Welily became the first married couple to both capture a World Championship title in the same sport . . . two genuine role models, beyond the game.

2018. During the Qatar Classic’s first year under the new PSA Platinum format, World #2 Ali Farag overcame one of the toughest draws any champion could endure. After a 1st-Round Bye, he survived 5-games with World #9 Mohamed Abouelghar. In the Round of 16, he defeated World #11 Saurav Ghosal. Then, with victories over 2016 Champion Karim Abdel Gawad, World #4 Tarek Momen and World #5 Simon Rösner, the surging Egyptian hoisted his 2nd PSA Platinum trophy.

2017. In Andy Taylor’s first year as host of the Qatar Classic Squash Championship, Mohamed Elshorbagy won his 3rd Qatar Classic title. It was his 6th successive Doha Final, dating back to the 2012 PSA Men’s World Championship. By reaching the 2017 Final, the Beast eclipsed Jansher Khan’s record of five consecutive Doha Finals, when the Pakistani legend won five straight Qatar International titles.