Challenger Tour Weekly Preview: Events In Australia, France & Pakistan

For the second week in succession, the Challenger Tour will feature three events, with the Tour seeing tournaments being held in Australia, France and Pakistan over the next seven days.

Over the past week, we have seen four winners on Tour, with Australia’s Rex Hedrick and Hong Kong’s Chan Sin Yuk being victorious at the Challenger 10 level Costa North Coast Open in Coffs Harbour, Australia. Elsewhere, Mexico’s Alfredo Avila won on home soil, while Diana Garcia took victory in Ontario, Canada.

This week, the action gets underway on Wednesday, with the PSF-COMBAXX International Squash Tournament, which takes place in Islamabad, Pakistan. The PSA des Hauts de France gets underway the same day in Lille, with the Alto Group Pennant Hills NSW Squash Open beginning a day later in Sydney, Australia.

Here is what takes place on Tour over the next week…

PSF-COMBAXX International Squash Tournament
The first of three tournaments this week on the Challenger Tour will be the PSF-COMBAXX International Squash Tournament, with the Challenger 10 level men’s event taking place from Wednesday, August 24 to Sunday, August 28 in Islamabad, Pakistan.

The Mushaf Squash Complex will play host to the competition, which will feature a 24-strong draw of mainly home hopes. Egypt’s Khaled Labib and Iranian No.1 Alireza Shameli will be among the top three seeds, and will be the only two non-Pakistanis who will be seeded for the event.

Noor Zaman, who participated at the World Junior Championships in France earlier this week, will be the No.2 seed, with compatriots Nasir Iqbal, Farhan Zaman, Ahsan Ayaz, Muhammad Ashab Irfan, and Hamza Khan making up the rest of the seeded players. The Malaysian trio of Duncan Lee, Wee Ming Hock and Hafiz Zhafri will also be in action this week in Islamabad.

PSA des Hauts de France
The PSA des Hauts de France will also take place from Wednesday, August 24 to Sunday, August 28, with the Challenger 5 level men’s and women’s event being held at Le Lil and Squash De L’Arbonnaise, both in Lille, France.

Egypt’s Nardine Garas will be the top seed for the women’s event, with the English duo of Alicia Mead and Torrie Malik, along with Switzerland’s Ambre Allinckx, making up the top four seeds. Lea Barbeau will be the No.6 seed, and the leading Frenchwoman in the draw, one of seven in action.

Japanese No.1 Ryosei Kobayashi will lead the way in the men’s event, with a multinational field aiming to topple him. Austria’s Aqeel Rehman, England’s Ben Smith, Spain’s Sergio Garcia Pollan, Colombia’s Andres Herrera, Egypt’s Mohamed Nasser and the Czech duo of Jakub Solnicky and Viktor Byrtus will all be seeded.

Alto Group Pennant Hills NSW Squash Open
The final event of the week on the Challenger Tour will be the Alto Group Pennant Hills NSW Squash Open, which will take place from Thursday, August 25 to Sunday, August 28 at the Thornleigh Squash and Fitness Centre in Sydney, Australia.

Hong Kong’s Cheng Nga Ching will be joined by the Malaysian duo of Yee Xin Ying and Aira Azman, along with Switzerland’s Celine Walser, in the top four seeds. Sze Yu Lee, Maggie Goodman and Jennifer Condie will be the home hopes in the Challenger 3 level draw.

Switzerland’s Yannick Wilhelmi and Robin Gadola will be the top two seeds for the men’s competition, and will be joined by India’s Abhay Singh and Filipino No.1 Robert Andrew Garcia in the top four seeds. Rhys Dowling will be the leading Australian, and the No.5 seed for the tournament.

This Week’s Schedule
PSF-COMBAXX International Squash Tournament: Wednesday, August 24 – Sunday, August 28
PSA des Hauts de France: Wednesday, August 24 – Sunday, August 28
Alto Group Pennant Hills NSW Squash Open: Thursday, August 25 – Sunday, August 28