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Mark Heather heads to Chicago © Debra Tessier 2006

Newly Named Head Professional At The University Club Of Chicago

Mark Heather, 29, will be leaving his current position as assistant pro at the New York Athletic Club to become head professional at the University Club Of Chicago beginning May 1.

He recently ascended to a career best No. 48 world ranking on the strength of several strong recent performances, most prominently a semifinal finish in the Pakistan Open (in which he knocked off world No. 16 Shahid Zaman in his opening round) and a quarterfinal advance in the Malaysian Open.

A native of Portsmouth, England, where he began playing at age seven, Heather had been based at Westchester Squash in Mamaroneck for three years prior to moving to the NYAC this autumn.

Heather has played some of his best squash in USSRA national tournaments of late, having won the U. S. 25-and-over flight in Boston last spring and, just past winter, having first defeated reigning three-time Individual Intercollegiate champion Yasser El-Halaby in the final and deciding match of his team's 3-2 win over Princeton in the final round of the USSRA Five-Man Team Championships in Connecticut and then surged to victory in the Yale Club Invitational with a final-round victory over Jonny Smith. His other noteworthy results in recent years have included winning the 2004 Hyder Invitational (defeating New Zealand star Daniel Sharplin in the final) and the 2003 Minneapolis Invitational and reaching the final round of the 2003 Atlanta Open as well.

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