Challenger Tour Weekly Preview: Events On Three Continents

The Challenger Tour continues this week with three more events over the next seven days, with action coming from three continents. Tournaments will take place in Australia, Portugal and the United States this week.

There was just the single event on the Tour last week, with Hong Kong’s Chan Sin Yuk and Tsz Kwan Lau coming out victorious from the Volkswagen Bega Open in New South Wales, Australia, the former claiming her second victory of the season and becoming the Tour’s first multiple-winner of the campaign.

This week, the action starts in the United States, with the Sam Aguiar Louisville Open, before events in Australia and Portugal start on Wednesday. Both the City of Devonport Tasmanian Open and the Madeira International will take place until Sunday, September 11.

Sam Aguiar Louisville Open

The first tournament of the week on the Challenger Tour will be the Challenger 10 level Sam Aguiar Louisville Open, which will take ace at the Louisville Boatclub and the Pendennis Club in Louisville, Kentucky, United States.

The five-day event, which will run from Tuesday, September 6 to Saturday, September 10, will see a 24-strong men’s draw take part, with two Americans among the top three seeds for the competition. Timothy Brownell and Andrew Douglas will be aiming to win on home soil this week.

Two men, in Mexico’s Alfredo Avila and Pakistan’s Nasir Iqbal, will be aiming to become the first male two-time winners on Tour in the 2022-2023 season, to join Hong Kong’s Chan Sin Yuk in doing so. Avila will be the No.2 seed for the event, and will be joined by the Czech Republic’s Daniel Mekbib in making up the rest of the top four seeds in the draw.

City of Devonport Tasmanian Open

The run of Australian tournaments on the Challenger Tour continues this week with the City of Devonport Tasmanian Open, which will take place from Wednesday, September 7 to Sunday, September 11 at the Devonport Squash Centre.

England’s Grace Gear will be the top seed for the women’s draw at the Challenger 10 level competition, with Hong Kong’s Tsz-Wing Tong, the 2016 winner of the tournament, Malaysia’s Chan Yiwen and the leading home hope, Australia’s Sarah Cardwell, making up the rest of the top four seeds. Yee Xin Ying, who has made her last two finals, will also be a member of the top eight seeds for the event.

The men’s draw will be led by Pakistan’s Muhammad Asim Khan, with last week’s Costa North Coast Open winner Tsz Kwan Lau aiming for back-to-back victories. Malaysia’s Addeen Idrakie, Mohammad Syafiq Kamal and Darren Rahul Pragasam will all be seeded for the competition, with Kamal being the runner-up at the event’s last edition back in 2019.

Madeira International

The final event of the week on the Challenger Tour will be the Madeira International, which will be held on the Portuguese island from Wednesday, September 7 to Sunday, September 11.

Home favourite Rui Soares, who was the runner-up at last year’s event, will be aiming to go one better this time round as the men’s top seed. Egypt’s Aly Abou Eleinen, Hungary’s Balazs Farkas and Englishman Ben Coleman make up the rest of the top four seeds.

For the first time, the tournament will also feature a women’s draw, with 16 players aiming to take home the Challenger 3 level crown. German Katerina Tycova will be the top seed for the event, with Scotland’s Katriona Allen, Frenchwoman Lea Barbeau and England’s Kiera Marshall all aiming for glory. Sofia Aveiro Pita, the Portuguese No.1, will also be among the seeds for the event.

This Week’s Schedule
Sam Aguiar Louisville Open: Tuesday, September 6 – Saturday, September 10
City of Devonport Tasmanian Open: Wednesday, September 7 – Sunday, September 11
Madeira International: Wednesday, September 7 – Sunday, September 11