Sublime Squash in Store at Steel City Open

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The Courtcraft Nick Matthew Academy Steel City Open, PSA M10 event begins on Thursday October 1 with a number of the country’s top young players taking part in Sheffield, England.

Indeed, number one seed Declan James hails from English shores and the Nottingham born 22-year-old takes the favourite tag for the event.

James is looking for an incredible fourth successive PSA World Tour title and is in arguably the best form of his career.

The World No.51, whose most recent success came at the Nash Cup two weeks ago, will line up against Mohamed Elgawarhy in round one.

Jaymie Haycocks is aiming to end his two-year wait for a PSA World Tour crown but has shown promising signs in the last few months, finishing runner-up at the City of Devonport Tasmanian Open and making the semi-final of the Greater Shepparton City Council International.

Haycocks opens up his event against fellow Englishman Nathan Lake as the pair face off for a place in the quarter-final.

An underdog for the title is 20-year-old Richie Fallows but the World No.74 has shown plenty of promise recently with three semi-final finishes coming at his last four events, the most recent of those coming at the BDO Northfield Cup last week.

Fallows gets his event underway with a first-round match against wildcard and close friend Ashley Davies.

Joel Hinds is also amongst the forerunners for the crown and has considerable title-winning pedigree having captured two PSA World Tour titles this year at the Brest International Squash Classic and the Belfast Open. He will play Lyell Fuller in round one.

Main Draw: PSA M10, Courtcraft Nick Matthew Academy Steel City Open, Sheffield, England
[2] Jaymie Haycocks (ENG) v Douglas Kempsell (SCO)
Ismail Rauf (PAK) v [6] Matthew Hopkin (AUS)
[7] George Parker (ENG) v Ahmad Al-Saraj (JOR)
Lyell Fuller (ENG) v [4] Joel Hinds (ENG)
[3] Richie Fallows (ENG) v [WC] Ashley Davies (ENG)
Jan van den Herrewegen (BEL) v [8] Chris Fuller (ENG)
[6] James Earles (ENG) v Daniel Poleshchuk (ISR)
Ben Ford (ENG) v [1] Declan James (ENG)