If it’s the first time you follow the Optasia coverage, you might not know that it’s happening in a lovely sports club situated right in front of the All England Club, the home of the Iconic Wimbledon tennis tournament, which uses their cricket ground as one of the parking for the event!
We play the first round both on one of the traditional courts in the main building, and the others on one of the covered tennis courts, transformed for the week into a stunning squash venue.
Rewind to 2015.
We are in St George’s, with Cubs, covering a small event, promoted by Bassim Haidar and organised by Danny Lee. At the time, it’s called Click Sargent, name of the Children’s Charity that helped the Haidar family when one of their children was diagnosed with cancer.
That year, Chris Simpson beat Daryl Selby to take the first ever trophy….
The following year, 2016, we changed name, becoming the Channel VAS Champs, Bassim Haidar company name. That year, Paul Coll, all the way from the qualifs, with a few marathons and upsets along the way, won his biggest title, beating Tarek Momen in three games.
I will never forget the 2018 final, as I’m sure Tarek Momen never will. On match ball, Tarek plays a stunning winner – he thought. Ali think it’s down. And both players ask me (I’m front row left, as usual). I couldn’t be sure 100%. So they replayed the point… “You nearly cost me the title Fram, I was sure the ball was good but you told me to play a let!” Well, I beg to differ! Your honesty nearly cost you the title… But it didn’t…
We had a little break because of COVID and a few hicups along the way, and we were reborn in 2022, this time in a club I knew pretty well, having covered their PSA event previously, and having had Stacey Ross, the head pro, as a member of SquashSite a few years back!
The name had changed to Optasia, as Bassim had started a new venture.
In 2024, the girls finally joined the fun, with Satomi Watanabe taking the inaugural title upsetting #1 Nele Gilis
Finally, last year, Hania El Hammamy, current world number one, won the event, and has since been sponsored by Optasia, the first ever lady to have that honour, Bassim having sponsored the Shorbagies for a few years now, and Asal since his victory in 2025.
Different names, different venues, but same promoter, Bassim Haidar, same Danny Lee, and a stronger presence from PSA, the prize money having risen, allowing the event to go from “nice club event” to “stunning PSA event!”
I interviewed Bassim a few years ago, but that conversation seems to have disappeared from YouTube. I’ll do my best to catch up with him again this year, as his involvement in squash continues to expand. He personally sponsored the London Classic 2025, and his passion for the sport appears to be growing all the time — for which the squash community can only be grateful.
