Chuah & Salem win June Challenger Tour Player of the Month Awards

Teenage duo Joachim Chuah and Ruqayya Salem have won the PSA Challenger Tour Player of the Month awards for the month of June, as voted for by fans on social media.

Young Malaysian star Chuah came into the month in good form, having reached the final of what was his first Challenger Tour event of the season in May, but went one better on the first day of June. 

After reaching the Hong Kong Squash PSA Challenge Cup – 4th Leg final as an unseeded player, the 19-year-old procuced a dominant display to see off home favourite Harley Lam 3-0, clinching his maiden PSA Tour title. 

Things then got even better for Chuah a few days later, as he added a second title at the WA Open International in Perth. 

Once again entering the field as an unseeded player, Chuah saw off the No.8 and 4 seeds in the second and third rounds, before staging a stunning fightback to beat second seed Rowan Damming in the semi-finals, saving match balls along the way. 

He then got the better of Australian No.1 Joseph White in the final, wrapping up his second consecutive 6k crown. 

His winning streak would eventually come to an end at the Squash Racquets Association of Negeri Sembilan PSNS President’s Trophy, but not before beating another two seeded players en route to the semi-finals. 

Meanwhile, the women’s award was claimed by 16-year-old Egyptian Salem, who made history by winning the Dynam Cup SQ-Cube Open last week. 

The young lefty was making her PSA Tour debut at the Yokohama Squash Stadium SQ-Cube, but stormed into the semi-finals with a dominant 3-0 win over No.1 seed Anna Serme, after easing through the first two rounds. 

She then fought back from 2-0 down to beat Korea’s Min-gyeong Heo in the last four, setting up what was set to be a mouthwatering final with fellow 16-year-old Anahat SIngh. 

Singh was ultimately forced to withdraw through injury prior to the final, denying the crowd what promised to be a spectacle, but handing Salem a well-deserved title nonetheless. 

As well as becoming the latest player to win a title on their PSA Tour debut – joining the likes of Ramy Ashour, Nadien Elhammay and Barb Sameh – Salem also became the second-youngest player to win a PSA Tour title this season, behind only Singh. 

She won the Player of the Month award following an extremely close vote on social media, beating fellow Egyptian Sameh by only five votes in a total of nearly 1,000.