Challenger Tour Weekly Preview: Mohamed Heads Strong Florida Field, Smith Back to Defend Liverpool Crown

There are three events in three different countries on the PSA Challenger Tour this week, with a women’s 20K taking place in Florida, USA, and a pair of men’s tournaments in Europe. 

Expression Network LLC Kinetic Racquet Women’s Squash 2024 

Two top-30 players, two rising stars of US squash and a former World No.18 headline the entry list at the Expression Network LLC Kinetic Racquet Women’s Squash. 

Egypt’s Farida Mohamed is the No.1 seed, targeting a second crown of 2024 having clinched her first World Tour title at the Carol Weymuller Open in January. 

The 22-year-old is joined in the top half of the draw by Harvard squash teammates Marina Stefanoni and Saran Nghiem, who recently went head-to-head in the National Collegiate Women’s Individual Championships final, with England’s Nghiem fighting back from 2-0 down to win a five-game thriller. 

Stefanoni remains the higher-ranked player, though, and enters this event as the No.3 seed, with Nghiem at No.7, putting her in the same quarter of the draw as Mohamed. 

The bottom half of the draw features current World No.22 Lucy Beecroft as well as 18-year-old American prospect Carouline Fouts, who will join Nghiem at Harvard later this year. 

Fouts has reached the final of her last two Challenger Tour events and is the No.4 seed here, setting her up for a quarter-final against former top-20 player Danielle Ray, should both players win in round two.  

Ray – a winner of six PSA Tour titles including two 20Ks – is continuing to work her way back up the rankings after missing much of 2023 through injury, and reached the semi-finals of her most recent Challenger Tour tournament. 

Liverpool Cricket Club Open 2024 

There’s strong American interest on the other side of the Atlantic, too, where Faraz Khan is the No.1seed at the Liverpool Cricket Club Open, a men’s 15K in England. 

Like compatriot Fouts, Khan has reached the final of his last two Challenger Tour events, winning the Richardson Wealth Van Lawn Open before finishing as runner-up at the Grizzly Bear Bourbon Mile High 360 Squash Classic. 

He will open his quest to reach a third straight final in round two against either Sam Buckley or Kareem El Torkey, with the Czech Republic’s Martin Svec the other seeded player in his quarter of the draw. 

Defending champion Ben Smith will be the man to beat in the bottom half of the draw as the No.2 seed, with a potential second-round clash against his Pontefract training partner Lwamba Chileshe awaiting him in round two, should the Kiwi get past wildcard Cory Harding. 

Talented young Egyptian Mohamed Zakaria is the No.6 seed, but he will likely have to play former World No.22 Moustafa Elsirty in round two, just as he did at the Odense Open a few weeks ago. 

Elsirty came out on top that day, but Zakaria will get his shot at revenge unless Elsirty suffers a round-one upset at the hands of Hong Kong’s Leo Chung. 

Emyr Evans is the only other British player amongst the seeds, though both James Peach and Alasdair Prott will be hoping to make a splash from day one. 

Hollolan Kuntokeidas PSA 2024 

The final event this week is the Hollolan Kuntokeidas PSA, a men’s 3K competition in the Finish town of Hollola. 

Left-handed duo Hafiz Zhafri and Laouenan Loaëc – who faced off in Odense recently – are the top two seeds, with the latter targeting what would be a first ever appearance in a PSA Tour final. 

Former World No.35 Henrik Mustonen, who once pushed Mohamed Elshorbagy to five at the Canary Wharf Squash Classic, is the highest-ranked Finnish player in action, as the No.4 seed. 

We will have on-site coverage from the Liverpool Cricket Club Open across the PSA Challenger Tour social channels throughout the week, as well as round-ups from all three events on the PSA website.