Challenger Tour Round-Up: Tang Battles Through to Hong King Final, Seeds Fall in Canada

Hong Kong Squash PSA Challenge Cup 2024 – 1st Leg 

Top seed Tang Ming Hong came through a five-game tussle with fifth seed Leo Chung on semi-finals day at the Hong Kong Squash PSA Challenge Cup 2024 – 1st Leg. 

The pair were opening play on court one, where the men’s match preceded the women’s semi-final, and it was Chung who made the better start, taking a one-game lead by winning the first 11-6. 

Tang – the World No.79 – upped his level across the next two games to move within one game of the final, but Chung would not go away, claiming the fourth 11-7 to force a decider. 

Another game would be one step too far for the World No.137, though, with Tang holding him off to take game five 11-8 and book his spot in the final. 

His opponent in that final will be Wong Chi Him, who cruised past Andes Ling 3-0. 

Ling had upset No.2 seed Matthew Lai in the quarter-finals, but he was unable to reproduce that form 24 hours later, losing 11-7, 11-2, 11-5 in just half an hour. 

The women’s semi-finals were also both done and dusted inside 30 minutes with No.1 seed Cheng Nga Ching setting up a final clash with third seed Toby Tse. 

Cheng actually dropped a game in her win over Korea’s Min-gyeong Heo, but still needed just 29 minutes to win 11-5, 6-11, 11-6, 11-6, while Tse swept aside Kwong Ena in 23 minutes. 

Lethbridge ProAm 

Four of the eight seeds went crashing out in round two on a day of upsets at the Lethbridge ProAm. 

Fifth seed Laouenan Loaëc was the highest-seeded casualty among them, losing 3-1 to Brazil’s Guilherme Melo, and his exit was swiftly followed by that of No.7 seed Nicolas Serna in the following match. 

Serna went down 3-1 to France’s Paul Gonzalez, before No.8 seed Manuel Paquemar and No.6 seed Sebastiaan Hofman fell to Maximilien Godbout and Henrik Mustonen respectively, later in the day. 

There were no such troubles for any of the top four seeds, though, with Brice Nicolas, Kareem El Torkey and Robin Gadola all winning 3-0, while No.3 seed Liam Marrison – the highest-ranked Canadian in the draw – beat the USA’s Salim Khan 3-1. 

You can stay up to date with all the PSA Challenger Tour results here.