DSQV Sportwerk Preview: Bharos Excited About Improvements

The last Challenger Tour event of the week is the DSQV Sportwerk Challenger, which takes place in Hamburg, Germany over the weekend.

Like all events on the Challenger Tour at the moment, this Challenger 3 level tournament is for domestic entrants only, with players currently residing in Germany allowed to enter.

Two of the 16 players in the event are non-Germans, with Dutchman Roshan Bharos and Egypt’s Tarek Shehata in action, the former being the top seed for the tournament.

The pair could meet in the final on Sunday evening, but Germany’s Valentin Rapp, who represented his country at the 2019 WSF Men’s World Team Squash Championships in Washington, D.C., is the No.2 seed, and will be looking to make sure he reaches the final, as his seeding suggests.

The German will face compatriot Hendirk Vossing in the first round on Saturday, while Egypt’s Shehata will do battle against Norman Junge.

World No.119 Bharos will start his campaign against Germany’s Jan Wipperfurth, and we caught up with the Dutchman earlier this week to ask him how he felt he was playing.

“To be quite honest, I have been feeling great and excited about my improvements in the training environment. However, I have had difficulties bringing such quality to the matches,” he explained.

“Especially in matches facing lower-ranked opponents I have struggled dealing with pressure. A couple of weeks ago I took a sport psychologist into my team in order to manage such situations better and I am very excited to see if the early work can pay off in Hamburg this week.”

Bharos also spoke about how he feels to be Dutch No.1. The 27-year-old took over as the nation’s best player in November 2018, and is yet to relinquish that position in the rankings. However, he knows there is more to come.

“Representing the Dutch flag is something special and something I am very proud of. To be the current highest ranked Dutch male player has a nice ring to it and probably pats the ego a little bit, which doesn’t hurt from time to time,” the World No.119 said.

“Nevertheless, I am also aware that we have some gaps to fill with names such as LJ Anjema and Piedro Schweertman disappearing from the world stage in recent years. Therefore, I am really motivated to see my fellow countrymen, and myself, aspiring to meet the standards these athletes have set.”

Bharos will be the top seed for the DSQV Sportwerk Challenger in Hamburg this week, and he admits that having the No.1 tag comes with that added pressure.

“Of course, there is always a different kind of pressure being the top seed as essentially in every match you have something to lose on paper. It is inevitable to be completely oblivious to this fact, but I will put my emphasis on the positive aspects,” he said.

“It might sound a bit ‘squash nerdy’ I suppose, but the good thing is I have been feeling very excited about hitting the ball and being on court these past few weeks and I will aim that to be the primary focus of this weekend.”

The event takes place this weekend in Hamburg, Germany, where Roshan Bharos is the top seed for the tournament. You will be able to watch all the action from the glass court at the DSQV Sportwerk Challenger on the Challenger Tour YouTube channel.
Follow the PSA Challenger Tour on Twitter and Facebook for daily updates from the event.

First Round Draw: DSQV Sportwerk Challenger
[1] Roshan Bharos (NED) v Jan Wipperfurth (GER)
Christoph Bluhm (GER) v [7] Willi Wingelsdorf (GER)
[8] Lennard Hinrichs (GER) v Dennis Welte (GER)
Paul Wingelsdorf (GER) v [4] Tobias Weggen (GER)
[3] Tarek Shehata (EGY) v Norman Junge (GER)
Nils Schwab (GER) v [6] Fynn Schuck (GER)
[5] Julius Benthin (GER) v Max Plettenberg (GER)
Hendrik Vossing (GER) v [2] Valentin Rapp (GER)