Challenger Tour Weekly Preview: Elsirty & Marshall Top Gibraltar Fields; Damming Seeking Skillzea Glory

The Xbox PSA World Tour finals may be taking centre stage in the squash world this week, but there’s plenty going on across the Challenger Tour too, with five events on the schedule. 

Read on below to see a preview of each event. 

Open International Vendée Squash 2024 

Kicking off the week is the Open International Vendée Squash, a men’s 6k event in the French town of Challans, where there’s an abundance of home interest. 

Second seed Macéo Levy leads the home charge as one of five French players among the top eight seeds, with Egyptian trio Mohamed Nasser, Yusuf Elsherif and Mohamed Gohar the only exceptions. 

Nasser – the No.1 seed – is targeting a second successive Challenger Tour title, having won the ACE Challenger 6K in May, his maiden crown at this level. 

Gibraltar Open 2024 

Starting 24 hours later and 1,000 miles away is the only event this week to feature both a men’s and women’s draw, the Gibraltar Open. 

Playing in the shadow of the iconic Rock of Gibraltar, 48 players will be in action across the four days, headlined by former World No.22 Moustafa Elsirty. 

The young Egyptian is the men’s No.1 seed and comes into this event having reached the quarter-finals at the PSA Club Campestre De Cali last week. 

Also in the top half of the draw is No.3 seed and rising Welsh talent Rhys Evans, who recently claimed his second and biggest Tour title to date, the Mozart Open, where he beat home favourite Aqeel Rehman in the final. 

England’s Robert Downer is the No.2 seed, with French left-hander Laouenan Loaëc at No.4. 

The women’s draw, meanwhile, features a host of exciting young talent, with eight junior players in the field. 

Among them is reigning Junior British champion Amelie Haworth, who plays her first event since March, and 15-year-old Mariam Eissa, who claimed her first Challenger Tour match win at the Mozart Open. 

Eissa’s first-round opponent will be Scottish junior national champion Robyn McApline, with top seed Kiera Marshall in the same quarter of the draw. 

Marshall beat McAlpine in the semi-finals of last week’s Investimax Brussels Open, before going down in the final to Hayley Ward, but will hope to go one better this time around. 

Germany’s Katerina Tycova and Wales’ Ali Loke are the top two seeds in the bottom half of the draw, at No.2 and No.4 respectively, though 17-year-old Karolína Šrámková – already a Czech national champion – will be out to make a splash too. 

Skillzea Open 2024 

Rowan Damming will begin his quest for a first title of the season as the No.1 seed at the Skillzea Open, which takes place in the New Zealand city of Dunedin. 

Damming entered this season having reached three finals in a row to end last season, winning two of them, but has been unable to add to his trophy cabinet since, losing in the semi-finals in six of his last seven events. 

He will have his sights set on changing that here in Dunedin, though, with fellow Dutchman and No.8 seed Sam Gerrits the only other seed in his quarter of the draw. 

The bottom half of the draw, meanwhile, could pit brothers Temwa and Lwamba Chileshe against each other, as the No.2 and 3 seeds. 

The pair have played each other eight times on the PSA Tour before, with older brother Lwamba winning six of those, including each of the last three. 

Lwamba also beat his brother in the recent Oceania Championships final, though the younger sibling has claimed the trophy at his two most recent Challenger Tour events, one either side of that Oceana competition. 

Life Time Mississauga Cafe de Khan Challenger 2024 presented by Jilani Place 

Getting underway the same day but in a completely different time zone is the Life Time Mississauga Cafe de Khan Challenger 2024 presented by Jilani Place. 

Taking place in Ontario, Canada, the 3k men’s event has plenty of Canadian interest, none more so than in the form of No.1 seed Liam Marrison. 

The 23-year-old is seeking a maiden PSA Tour title, and is the only player inside the world’s top 150 in the draw. 

Bermuda’s Taylor Carrick is the No.2 seed with the USA’s Mohamed Nabil at No.3 and experienced Babatunde Ajagbe – who is also targeting a first Tour title – at No.4. 

The University Of Warwick Open 2024 

Rounding out the week is The University Of Warwick Open, a 3k Territory event in the heart of England. 

Ireland’s Sam Buckley is the No.1 seed, and is one of only two non-English players among the seeds, with Scotland’s Rory Richmond the other. 

Home interest will be led by second seed Miles Jenkins, with Birmingham’s Samuel Osborne-Wylde looking to make a splash just a few miles from where he lives. 

Teenagers Heston and Bailey Malik are also involved, hoping to follow in the footsteps of their older siblings Curtis, Perry and Torrie and climbing up the rankings. 

Click here to stay up to date with results on the Challenger Tour, and stay tuned to the PSA website for updates throughout the week.