Challenger Tour Weekly Preview: Cardenas Tops Louisville Field

The 2023 Louisville Open headlines this week’s PSA Challenger Tour schedule, which features four tournaments in total. 

A PSA Challenger Tour 20 event, the Louisville field is topped by World No.25 Leonel Cardenas, who has already won twice on the PSA Tour this year. 

Defending champion Timothy Brownell and Faraz Khan lead the US contingent, seeded second and fourth respectively, with Argentina’s Leandro Romiglio sandwiched between them. 

Among the names to watch out for elsewhere will be young Egyptian Kareem El Torkey, the No.1 seed in the 3rd Bangabandhu Squash Tournament Presented by Ispahani. 

The 19-year-old reached the semi-finals of last week’s Springfield Scottish Squash Open, where he was beaten by eventual champion Edmon Lopez in a five-game thriller. 

He’s seeking a first tour title and is one of six Egyptians among the eight seeds in Dhaka. 

The only event on this week’s slate to feature both a men’s and women’s event at Challenger Tour level comes from Hong Kong, where the KCC PSA Challenge Cup 2 takes centre stage. 

The top six seeds in the men’s event are all local, while the women’s draw features three top-100 players – Cheng Nga Ching and Ching Hei Fung of Hong Kong and India’s Akanksha Salunkhe. 

Rounding out the week’s events is the Copa Mexico Temazcal. 

Former World No.35 Alfredo Avila enters as the No.1 seed, having won seven PSA Tour events since the start of 2022, with Colombian duo Ronald Palomino and Felipe Tovar the only players not from Mexico among the seeds. 

You can get updates on all the events on the PSA Challenger Tour Facebook and X pages.