Prudential Equity Group, LLC

/ MSRA Corporate Squash Challenge
April-May.2005
New York City

Prudential Equity Group, LLC

/ MSRA Corporate Squash Challenge
April-May.2005
New York City

CONTACT:

Anand Satchit

T + (917)428-1509

Corporate SquashGains Momentum in New York City.

New York, NY, May 10, 2005– The second “MSRA Corporate Squash Challenge” has kicked-off in New York City. The tournament is taking place across various clubs in Manhattan between April 29th and May 22nd.The event will be held across a number of facilities in the New York City area, including the Harvard, Yale, Princeton and New York Sports Clubs in Manhattan.

Leveraging on the success of the inaugural tournament which received 10 firm entries, the second round of the tournament will include 13 firms and about 26 teams (a firm may submit multiple entries for different divisions). The 13 firms include the pre-eminent investment banking and financial services firms in the world (in alphabetical order):

American Express
Bear Stearns
Citigroup
Credit Suisse First Boston
Deutsche Bank
Goldman Sachs
JP Morgan
KPMG Corporate Finance
Lehman Brothers
Morgan Stanley
Prudential Financial
UBS
Warburg Pincus

The twenty six teams consist of about 3 players each with 1 or two alternatestotaling120 players. Each team is required to win 2/3 matches to proceed to the next round of competition with consolation rounds to determine rankings for all 26 teams within the A, B and C divisions. Most matches will be held over weekends between April 29th and May 22ndwith some matches being played during the week due to busy work schedules.

As witnessed from the popularity of this tournament, squash is a great outlet from the fast paced world of Wall Street. The Corporate Squash Challenge provides another avenue for those passionate about the sport to represent their respective firms in competition and most importantly, compete for the title of “Best Corporate Squash team in New York”. It will also serve to raise the profile of the sport among the corporate workforce.

The event targets a very specific audience – squash players within corporations in the New York City area. Many of these players are less-active players in the many tournaments and leagues that the MSRA offers throughout the year due to demands of work and family life.

In addition to the squash tournament, the challenge will provide participants an opportunity to network with individuals across various firms in the securities industry.The MSRA has also organized a private cocktail event for all participants. The event will be held at a lounge in the WestVillage, including an open bar and horderves.

The tournament reinforces MSRA’s mission of development, progress, and establishment of the game of squash in the greater New York metropolitan area. The MSRA seeks both to introduce new players to the game, and to inspire current players to excellence, fair play, and healthy competition.

Furthermore, the MSRA aims to bring squash players of all ages and skill levels together for enjoyment and competition across communities and creating opportunities in all aspects of life - educational, professional, and personal.

The sport of Squash (a.k.a. Squash Racquets) was first played over 100 years ago and is now enjoyed in over 130 nations, on 50,000 courts, with its popularity continuing to grow rapidly. The sport has 118 national associations that are affiliated with the World Squash Federation (WSF).

It is estimated that there are more than 18 million players worldwide, about a million of them in the United States.

ABOUT THE MSRA - The MSRA is dedicated to promoting the game of squash in the Greater New York area and encouraging the positive values of the game to build a strong and vibrant squash community.

The MSRA organizes leagues and tournaments for squash players in the New York Metropolitan area. The MSRA is a not-for-profit organization run by volunteers and one part-time paid Executive Director. MSRA members are individuals and clubs offering squash courts in the NY metro area. The MSRA is also the designated district branch for the United States Squash Racquets Association (USSRA).

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Article from Squashtalk.com (First Corporate Challenge – September, 2004)

MSRA To Organize A Corporate Challenge In September

With an eye towards emulating the Corporate Challenge Central Park runs and U. S. Open tennis events that have enjoyed such success in New York in recent years, the Metropolitan Squash Racquets Association (MSRA) will for the first time in the 80-year history of the Association be running a Corporate Challenge squash event next month in an effort to attract additional sponsorship, bring more new players into the game and jump-start the 2004-2005 local season.

The Corporate Challenge will consist of eight three-player teams, all of which are guaranteed three matches to be played on consecutive weekends during the period from September 18-26. Depending on the success this initial venture enjoys, MSRA President Alex Lau has announced that additional versions of this concept will be scheduled later this season.

The formation of this event is largely the brain-child of recently-appointed MSRA Board member Anand Satchit, the Corporate Challenge co-director along with Lau, and a long-time squash player who works at Goldman Sachs, the Wall Street investment firm which has already committed to enter a team (so have McKinsey & Co. and Reuters, with a number of other firms expressing interest as well).

The entry fee is only $150.00 per team, which covers court fees, T shirts and prizes for the winners and runners-up. Entries must be received, with payment, by September 8th, and multiple team entries may be accepted at the discretion of the league directors.

The goal is to involve as many different companies as possible, so if eight companies enter the league, each company will be limited to a single team.

The entire project represents another step towards what is hoped will be the revival of the MSRA, once viewed as the premier local squash association in the country, which however faded badly during the 1990's, with many private clubs losing interest and increasingly declining to enter teams in the MSRA league or to support the various MSRA events, a number of which consequently had to be discontinued due to insufficient entries.

In the last year or two, the MSRA has begun to take small steps in a positive direction (the recent restoration of the MRSA Mixed Doubles and an uptick in the quality of the Hyder being two such examples), and this phenomenon has not gone unnoticed: the fact that the Yale Club, Princeton Club and NYSC Uptown Club have already firmly committed to provide courts for the Corporate Challenge event (with several other clubs likely to join them) is a crucial step in the right direction. No local association can truly thrive without the active support of its member clubs, and the enthusiasm with which this proposal has been received is an encouraging sign that those clubs may well be coming back into the fold again.

Anyone interested in entering a team in the upcoming MSRA Corporate Challenge or in inquiring further about it is urged to contact Messrs. Lau and Satchit at their respective email addresses, and . Checks are to be made payable to the MSRA and the entry form and fee are to be sent to the MSRA at 2A Anchor Court, Huntington Station, NY 11746.