Challenger Tour Weekly Preview: Action From Three European Countries

There are three tournaments on the Challenger Tour this week, with all the action coming from the European continents, with events in Austria, Poland and the United Kingdom.

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, all three events are being run with entry restrictions. The events in Poland and United Kingdom will be domestic-only, while the Austrian Open has regional restrictions.

Austrian Open
The Austrian Open, along with having regional restrictions, is also the biggest event of the week, with a Challenger 5 level tournament taking place in Salzburg.

Because of those entry restrictions, there will be seven nationalities represented in the 16-man draw, with Colombia’s Juan Camilo Vargas, who now lives in the Czech Republic, being the top seed for the tournament.

Austrian No.1 Aqeel Rehman, the home favourite, will be the No.2 seed, with Germany’s Yannik Omlor, Dutch No.1 Roshan Bharos, Spain’s Hugo Varela and Switzerland’s Robin Gadola all in action.

Vitall Sport Challenger 3
Enjoy Squash in Bielsko-Biala, Poland, will play host to a Challenger Tour event once again this week, with the Vitall Sport Challenger 3 taking place from Wednesday 7 to Thursday 8 July.

The event is for domestic entires only, with just two non-Polish players in the field, in Israeli No.1 Daniel Poleshchuk and Ireland’s Eddie Mcfarlane in action.

Polish No.1 Filip Jarota will be the top seed for the tournament, with the quarter of juniors, in Jakub Pytlowany, Jakub Gogol, Nataniel Hernas and Kajetan Lipski the rest of the top six seeds.

Stellar New Malden Squash Festival
Once again, there is an event in the United Kingdom this week, with a Challenger 3 level event taking place in New Malden from Wednesday 7 through to Saturday 10 July.

It is the only event which features both men’s and women’s draws this week, and following her first win on Tour at the weekend in Peterborough, Scotland’s Georgia Adderley will be one of the favourites for the women’s title this week. Fellow Scot Alison Thomson will be the top seed, with Grace Gear and Charlotte Jagger the rest of the top four seeds. Georgina Kennedy, who moved up to World No.105 in the latest rankings, will be another player to watch after winning twice in June.

Welshman Peter Creed will be the top seed for the men’s draw, with Ireland’s Sean Conroy as the No.2 seed. The English quartet of Nick Wall, Curtis Malik, Sam Todd and Joe Lee will also be aiming for glory as the other members of the top 200 in the World Rankings.

This Week’s Schedule
Vitall Sport Challenger 3: Wednesday 7 – Thursday 8 July
Austrian Open: Wednesday 7 – Saturday 10 July
Stellar New Malden Squash Festival: Wednesday 7 – Saturday 10 July