Challenger Tour Round-Up: Chuah Marches On; Salem Upsets Serme; Hawal & Damming to Meet Again

Squash Racquets Association of Negeri Sembilan PSNS President’s Trophy 2024 

Joachim Chuah is one win away from a fourth consecutive PSA Tour final, after booking his spot in the Squash Racquets Association of Negeri Sembilan PSNS President’s Trophy semi-finals. 

The 19-year-old has been on a tear in recent weeks, winning his last two tournaments as well as reaching another final, climbing almost 300 places in the world rankings since April. 

He now has a shot at reaching yet another final, this time on home soil, after coming from behind to beat Hong Kong’s Lam Shing Fung 3-1 on quarter-finals day. 

Standing in Chuah’s way will be Egypt’s Ziad Ibrahim, the only non-Malaysian player left standing in either the men’s or women’s draw. 

The No.2 seed beat Iran’s Sepehr Etemadpoor 11-5, 11-9, 11-5 in the final match of quarter-finals day, completing a semi-finals line-up that will also see Darren Pragasam face compatriot Andrik Lim. 

The women’s semi-finals will both be all-Malaysian affairs with four of the top five seeds competing. 

Second seed Erisa Sano Herring withdrew due to injury before round two, but the remaining top four seeds – Sehveetrraa Kumar, Yu Jie Chen and Heng Wai Wong – are all through, alongside fifth seed Jessica Keng. 

Third seed Chen was the only player among them not to win 3-0, losing a first-game tiebreak 15-13 to Puteri Rania Mior, but never looked in trouble, thereafter, losing no more than five points in any of the next three games. 

Action switches to the glass court for semi-finals day, kicking off at 2pm local time (7am BST), with all matches streaming live on the PSNS YouTube channel. Click here to tune in. 

Dynam Cup SQ-Cube Open 2024 

16-year-old Egyptian Ruqayya Salem continued her fairytale debut on the PSA Tour, upsetting top seed Anna Serme to reach the Dynam Cup SQ-Cube Open semi-finals. 

17 years and almost 300 places in the world rankings separated the two players going into their quarter-final matchup, but it was the young Egyptian who edged a tight game one, winning it 11-9 to move in front. 

From there, she controlled proceedings, easing through the next two games to take them 11-4, 11-6 and reach the final four. 

The Cairo-based lefty – who won the U17 US Junior Open U17 last year but is making her first appearance on the PSA Tour this week – will now play Min-gyeong Heo for a spot in the final. 

Salem’s win keeps alive the possibility of an all-16-year-old women’s final, after India’s Anahat Singh beat Gigi Yeung of Macau to book her spot in the other semi-final. 

She will play sixth seed Sugimoto Risa, the only Japanese player left in the women’s draw, while home hopes in the men’s draw remain with top seed Ryunosuke Tsukue, although only just. 

The three-time defending champion fell 2-0 behind to Malaysia’s Ameeshenraj Chandaran before staging a stunning fightback, winning games three and four 11-9, 11-4 and then clinching a dramatic tiebreak 13-11 in the fifth. 

Tsukue’s reward is a semi-final berth against third seed Addeen Idrakie, with Lucas Serme and Kareem El Torkey – seeded second and fourth respectively – set to face off in the bottom half of the draw. 

Trident Homes South Island Open 2024 

15-year-old Adam Hawal and former world junior champion Rowan Damming will face off for the second time in less than 10 days, in the Trident Homes South Island Open semi-finals. 

Damming was upset by Hawal as the No.1 seed in round two of the Skillzea Open last week, but he will have a shot at revenge here in Christchurch after battling back from 2-1 down to beat New Zealand’s Joel Arscott in five games. 

Hawal, meanwhile, booked his spot in the semi-finals by knocking out Australia’s Remi Young 3-0, the only men’s match to end in three games on quarter-finals day. 

Fourth seed Elijah Thomas – who knocked Hawal out of the Skillzea Open en route to the title – won a five-game epic of his own against the Netherlands’ Sam Gerrits. 

All five games were separated by three points or fewer, with Gerrits winning the first two before Thomas somehow forced his way into a decider, taking both games three and four on tiebreaks. 

He then closed out victory 11-8 in the fifth, setting up an all-Kiwi clash with second seed Temwa Chileshe, who beat Benjamin Ratcliffe 3-1. 

The women’s semi-finals will see the top four seeds compete for a place in the final, with No.1 seed Lowri Roberts continuing her dominant week on quarter-finals day. 

The 26-year-old is yet to lose more than four points in a game this week, adding a 13-minute demolition of Emma Cormack in the last eight to her round-two win over Moriya Karati. 

Second seed Ella Lash and in-form third seed Madeleine Hylland also recorded similarly comfortable victories, each spending less than 20 minutes on court in respective wins over Kayti Griffen and Sophie Hodges. 

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