Kinetic 5k Challenger (Men’s) Preview: Azana Aiming For Home Club Win

The men’s event at the Kinetic 5k Challenger gets underway on Tuesday, with the Kinetic Indoor Racquet Club Florida playing host to the competition.

The Challenger 5 level tournament will run from Tuesday, November 15 to Friday, November 18, with 16 players from nine nations participating in the four-day event.

Canadian No.1 David Baillargeon, who is coming off a strong two weeks in New Zealand, will be the tournament’s top seed, with England’s Tom Walsh as the other member of the world’s top 100 in action.

The Guatemalan duo of Alejandro Enriquez and Ricardo Toscano make up the rest of the top four seeds. Malaysia’s Sanjay Jeeva, Argentine Jeremias Azana, Pakistan’s Saeed Abdul and American Jamie Ruggiero will all be seeded for the competition.

We spoke to the Argentinian prior to the tournament, and at the club he now calls home, Azana would love to take home the title this week.

“I am currently training at Kinetic in Miami, Florida. The truth is that I feel that I have been playing good squash in recent months,” the Argentine said.

“Changing and working on aspects of my game that have helped me play good squash on the court, I hope to be able to continue like this and keep progressing, but I am aware that there is still a long way to go. I know I’m on the right track and the results will come when the time is right. 

“I’m going in with very good expectations for the tournament, I know it’s not going to be easy and there are good players. But I’m very confident and I’ll fight to win the title. Obtaining the title would be very special for me because I am playing it at my club where I train every day and with the people there. So it would be a nice memory to be able to do it.

“Regarding the ranking, I would like to be able to finish inside the 100 this year. I hope to be able to achieve it at the end of the season if possible.”

A trio of New Zealanders, in Elijah Tomas, Anthony Lepper and William Donnelly will also be in action this week in Florida, along with two juniors, in American Alex Arader and Canadian Ewan Harris, both of whom will be featuring for only the second time on Tour.

The event takes place from Tuesday, November 15 to Friday, November 18 at the Kinetic Indoor Racquets Club Florida. You can follow the PSA Challenger Tour on Twitter and Facebook for daily updates from the event.

First Round Draw: Kinetic 5k Challenger (Men’s)
[1] David Baillargeon (CAN) v Ewan Harris (CAN)
William Donnelly (NZL) v [6] Jeremias Azana (ARG)
[8] Jamie Ruggiero (USA) v Asyraf Azan (MAS)
Elijah Thomas (NZL) v [3] Alejandro Enriquez (GUA)
[4] Ricardo Toscano (GUA) v [WC] Alex Arader (USA)
Anthony Lepper (NZL) v [7] Saeed Abdul (PAK)
[5] Sanjay Jeeva (MAS) v Muhammad Ibrahim Noorani (PAK)
Veer Chotrani (IND) v [2] Tom Walsh (ENG)