Challenger Tour Roundup: Hunt Leads Charge For Canadian Hopes In Toronto

Home favourite Elliot Hunt is the last Canadian standing in the Chronicle Wealth Guilfoyle PSA Squash Classic 2024 in Toronto after he came out on top in a five-game epic with Adegoke Onaopemipo.

Having been 2-1 up, Hunt was pegged back by Onaopemipo to force a tiebreak, which saw the Canadian clinch a 12-10 victory after 108 minutes of bruising squash.

Hunt’s fellow countrymen Cory McCartney, Maxmilien Godbout, Tyson Schille, Blake Cueto and tournament wildcard Robin Clarke were all knocked out in the opening round.

The seeds enter the fray for the second round in Toronto, with top seed Ibrahim Elkabbani taking on Luis Aquino and second seed Perry Malik facing Mohamed Nabil. Meanwhile Hunt meets Jorge Luis Gomez Dominguez for a place in the quarter finals.

Results: RD1
Luis Aquino (MEX) bt Cory Mccartney (CAN) 3-0: 11-3, 10-4 retired (9m)
Robert Downer (ENG) bt [WC] Robin Clarke (CAN) 3-0: 11-5, 11-7, 11-7 (24m)
Juan Torres (COL) bt Maximilien Godbout (CAN) 3-0: 11-4, 11-4, 11-8 (24m)
Elliott Hunt (CAN) bt Adegoke Onaopemipo (NGR) 3-2: 11-8, 7-11, 11-7, 6-11, 12-10 (108m)
Taylor Carrick (BER) bt Tyson Schille (CAN) 3-1: 11-9, 8-11, 11-9, 11-5 (40m)
Cesar Segundo Corona (MEX) bt Noah Meredith (ENG) 3-1: 11-8, 11-8, 8-11, 11-8 (33m)
Bryan Cueto (MEX) bt Blake Reinson (CAN) 3-0: 11-7, 11-5, 11-4 (32m)
Mohamed Nabil (USA) bt Jayden Shortt (CAN) 3-0: 11-5, 11-2, 11-9 (25m)

Draw: RD2
[1] Ibrahim Elkabbani (EGY) v Luis Aquino (MEX)
Robert Downer (ENG) v [6] Stuart MacGregor (ENG)
[7] Anthony Lepper (NZL) v Juan Torres (COL)
Elliott Hunt (CAN) v [4] Jorge Luis Gomez Dominguez (MEX)
[3] Alejandro Reyes (MEX) v Taylor Carrick (BER)
Cesar Segundo Corona (MEX) v [8] Elliott Morris Devred (WAL)
[5] Diego Gobbi (BRA) v Bryan Cueto (MEX)
Mohamed Nabil (USA) v [2] Perry Malik (ENG)

France’s Manuel Paquemar produced an excellent fightback to advance to the second round of the PSA Poznan Open 2024.

Paquemar was 2-1 down against Ammar Altamimi before edging a tense fourth game 14-12 to level the match. The Frenchman dominated the fifth, winning 11-1 against Altamimi to round off an impressive comeback in just under an hour for a place in round two.

New Zealand’s William Donnelly required five games to see off Kajetan Lipski, with the Kiwi going up against No.7 seed Sebastiaan Hofman in round two.

The rest of the seeds come into the draw, with top seed Daniel Mekbib meeting Laouenan Loaëc and second seed Jakub Solnicky facing Ronald Palomino.

Results: RD1
Laouenan Loaëc (FRA) bt [WC] Mateusz Marcinkowski (POL) 3-0: 11-3, 11-3, 11-6 (18m)
Jan Wipperfürth (GER) bt [WC] Lukasz Marcinkowski (POL) 3-0: 11-4, 11-7, 11-7 (25m)
Manuel Paquemar (FRA) bt Ammar Altamimi (KUW) 3-2: 7-11, 11-7, 9-11, 14-12, 11-1 (58m)
Yusuf Elsherif (EGY) bt [WC] Tomasz Matejski (POL) 3-0: 11-7, 12-10, 11-9 (32m)
Theis Houlberg (DEN) bt Dariusz Filipowski (POL) 3-0: 11-0, 11-4, 11-3 (21m)
Sohail El Shenawy (EGY) bt Louai Hafez (SUI) 3-0: 12-10, 11-5, 11-5 (43m)
William Donnelly (NZL) bt Kajetan Lipski (POL) 3-2: 12-10, 7-11, 11-4, 9-11, 11-7 (48m)
Ronald Palomino (COL) bt Jakub Pytlowany (POL) 3-0: 11-3, 11-7, 11-6 (24m)

Draw: RD2
[1] Daniel Mekbib (CZE) v Laouenan Loaëc (FRA)
Jan Wipperfürth (GER) v [8] Sean Conroy (IRL)
[6] Moustafa Elsirty (EGY) v Manuel Paquemar (FRA)
Yusuf Elsherif (EGY) v [3] Alasdair Prott (SCO)
[4] Elijah Thomas (NZL) v Theis Houlberg (DEN)
Sohail El Shenawy (EGY) v [5] Joeri Hapers (BEL)
[7] Sebastiaan Hofman (NED) v William Donnelly (NZL)
Ronald Palomino (COL) v [2] Jakub Solnicky (CZE)

In the United States, Men’s Pro Challenger Tour 2024 presented by Play Squash Academy kicked off yesterday, with eight players advancing to the second round.

There were defeats for USA trio Jamie Ruggiero, Jahangir Naseem and wildcard Karamatullah Khan were dispatched by Waleed Khalil, Hamza Khan and Mark Broekman, respectively.

The tournament’s top seed will go head-to-head with Leo Vargas following the Mexican’s 3-0 triumph over Abhishek Agarwal in round one, while second seed Seif El-Shenawy of Egypt takes on his compatriot Ziad Sakr.

Results: RD1
Leo Vargas (MEX) bt Abhishek Agarwal (IND) 3-0: 11-8, 11-8, 11-6 (38m)
Waleed Khalil (PAK) bt Jamie Ruggiero (USA) 3-1: 9-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-4 (41m)
Ahsan Ayaz (PAK) bt [WC] Adam Ardito (JAM) 3-0: 11-3, 11-6, 11-2 (18m)
Mark Broekman (ENG) bt [WC] Karamatullah Khan (USA) 3-0: 11-5, 11-2, 11-2 (17m)
Omar ElKattan (EGY) bt [WC] Kaleem Khan (PAK) 3-0: 11-4, 11-4, 11-6 (14m)
Jose Gallegos (CHI) bt Armando Olguin (MEX) 3-0: 11-5, 11-6, 11-1 (15m)
Hamza Khan (PAK) bt Jahangir Naseem (USA) 3-0: 11-5, 11-7, 11-3 (14m)
Ziad Sakr (EGY) bt Farhan Hashmi (PAK) 3-0: 11-8, 11-9, 11-5 (19m)

Draw: RD2
[1] Muhammad Asim Khan (PAK) v Leo Vargas (MEX)
Waleed Khalil (PAK) v [5] Christopher Gordon (USA)
[7] Josue Enriquez (GUA) v Ahsan Ayaz (PAK)
Mark Broekman (ENG) v [3] Alejandro Enriquez (GUA)
[4] Muhammad Ashab Irfan (PAK) v Omar ElKattan (EGY)
Jose Gallegos (CHI) v [8] Sebastian Salazar (MEX)
[6] Andres Herrera (COL) v Hamza Khan (PAK)
Ziad Sakr (EGY) v [2] Seif El-Shenawy (EGY)

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