Liverpool Cricket Club Open: Preview & How to Watch

The Liverpool Cricket Club Open returns to the PSA Challenger Tour schedule this week, this time as a 15K men’s event, with a host of top-100 players involved. 

Last year’s champion Ben Smith returns to defend his crown as the No.2 seed, with the USA’s Faraz Khan topping the field. 

Khan is making his debut at this event, but comes into the tournament having reached the final of his two most recent Challenger Tour competitions, the Richardson Wealth Van Lawn Open and the Grizzly Bear Bourbon Mile High 360 Squash Classic. 

His second-round opponent will be either Ireland’s Sam Buckley or the talented young Egyptian Kareem El Torkey, a winner of three Challenger Tour titles already this season. 

Smith, meanwhile, faces the prospect of taking on training partner Lwamba Chileshe in round two, should the Kiwi see off the threat of wildcard Cory Harding on day one. 

Elsewhere in the draw, 16-year-old rising star Mohamad Zakaria is the No.6 seed, but could meet fellow Egyptian Moustafa Elsirty in round two for the second time in less than a month. 

Zakaria was beaten by the former World No.22 in round two of the Odense Open a few weeks ago, and will have a shot at revenge at the same stage of this event, assuming Elsirty gets past Leo Chung on day one. 

Fellow Egyptian Mazen Gamal – 22 years older than Zakaria – is in the same quarter of the draw and is the No.4 seed, while the in-form Muhammad Asim Khan is the third seed. 

Among those to watch out for on day one will be Spain’s Ivan Perez, whose athletic nature will be well-suited to the warm, traditional courts at Liverpool Cricket Club. 

The 23-year-old plays England’s Stuart MacGregor in round one, in what could well be a lengthy affair, with No.7 seed Viktor Byrtus awaiting the winner in round two. 

Scotland’s Alasdair Prott and Malaysia’s Darren Pragasam are also in first-round action, having both recorded some impressive wins of late. 

Prott knocked out Elsirty en route to the PSA Poznan Open final, while Pragasam stunned Zakaria in Ipswich last month, before going all the way to lift the trophy in Lexden a fortnight later. 

Action from Court 5 at the Liverpool Cricket Club Open will stream live on the SQUASHTV Live Streaming YouTube channel throughout week, kicking off at 16:30 GMT on Tuesday, March 26. 

We will be on site at the event too, providing in-depth coverage of all five days across the PSA Challenger Tour social channels and PSA website.