Challenger Events
Challenger Tour Round-Up: Chuah, Kumar & Nghiem Win Titles, Salem into Atlanta Final
Hong Kong Squash PSA Challenge Cup 2024 – 4th Leg
Teenage duo Joachim Chuah and Sehveetrraa Kumar completed a Malaysian double at the Hong Kong Squash PSA Challenge Cup 2024 – 4th Leg, both winning their respective finals in comfortable fashion.
Both players had finished as the runner-up on home soil at the ACE Challenger 6K two weeks ago, but both got over the line this time around, each beating a player from Hong Kong.
18-year-old Kumar was the first to clinch glory, beating top seed Ching Hei Fung 11-7, 11-4, 11-3 in 24 minutes, securing her second PSA Tour title.
The unseeded Chuah then followed suit, easing past seventh seed Harley Lam in only 28 minutes to capture his maiden Challenger Tour title.
Mozart Open 2024
England’s Saran Nghiem backed up her impressive run at the Manchester Open with the Mozart Open title, beating Scotland’s Alison Thomson 3-1 in the final on the unique glass court at EUROPARK shopping mall.
The 20-year-old Harvard student had not dropped a game all week coming into this final – following on from a stunning win over World No.15 Sarah-Jane Perry in Manchester – while Thomson had come through an epic five-game thriller to beat Kiera Marshall in the semi-finals here.
Thomson had saved multiple match balls before eventually winning a fifth-game tiebreak 17-15 in that one, but any thoughts that she might be burnt out and that Nghiem would be in for an easy ride were quickly dispelled.
The pair went toe-to-toe through a tight first game which could have gone either way, though the No.1 seed eventually took 13-11, and she dominated game two, dropping only five points.
But back came Thomson in the third, winning it 11-6 to keep the contest alive and perhaps set a few nerves jangling for Nghiem.
Any nerves would not have lasted long, though, as the Manchester-born right-hander took game four 11-7 to get her hands on the trophy.
Saran Nghiem in action during her win over Alison Thomson in the Mozart Open final. Credit: Stefan Müller.
25th Atlanta Open
Defending champion Zahed Salem is one win away from back-to-back glory at the 25th Atlanta Open, having come from a game down to beat Nicholas Spizzirri 3-1 in the only semi-final to take place on day four of the competition.
31-year-old Salem is a former World No.14 who has only played four events in the last 18 months and has therefore dropped outside the World’s top 400, but one of those was this tournament last year, when he picked up the trophy.
He now has the chance to repeat that feat, this time as a wildcard, after beating the 22-year-old American 6-11, 11-7, 11-6, 12-10.
Salem will be at a significant disadvantage to his opponent, Alejandro Enriquez, though, with the Guatemalan not having stepped foot on court since the quarter-finals, with Muhammad Ashab Irfan pulling out injured ahead of their semi-final clash.
You can stay up to date with all the results on the Challenger Tour here.
