Bryant & Walid Win Challenger Tour Player of the Year Awards

Jonah Bryant and Menna Walid have won the PSA Challenger Tour Player of the Year Awards, announced at the PSA Awards dinner in Birmingham. 

The awards were decided based on a public vote being combined with votes made by the PSA Awards Committee – a group consisting of selected influential former players, members of the media, tournament promoters and PSA Board representatives. 

18-year-old Bryant has had a memorable first full season on the PSA Tour, winning six Challenger Tour titles and making his mark on the World Tour towards the end of the campaign. 

Coming into the season, the talented young Englishman was ranked outside the world’s top 250, but a move to Birmingham to work full-time with Rob Owen proved to be the catalyst for a sensational next six months. 

He walked away with his maiden title at the 3k Wye Valley Brewery Stourbridge Open, where he dropped only one game all week, and followed that up with further crowns at the Telsa Media David Lloyd Purley Open and the Harrogate Squash Open. 

His reward for that success was a place in the world’s top 150 at the turn of the year, but he took his game to another level in the first half of 2024, recording some stunning wins on his way to three more titles, each one bigger than the last. 

The first came in the 9k MRU Open in the Canadian city of Calgary, where the unseeded Bryant dropped only two games en route to glory, and he backed that up with a 15k crown at the RC Pro Series presented by Telcoin, where he beat World No.49 Cesar Salazar in the final. 

That result moved Bryant up inside the world’s top 100 for the first time, but his crowning moment was still to come, as he clinched the 20k title at the Cannon Kirk Gillen Markets Irish Squash Open. 

The Brighton-born star was once again unseeded in a tough draw that pitted him against Finnlay Withington, Nick Wall and Declan James, but undeterred, he marched his way through to the final, where fellow rising star Mohamad Zakaria awaited. 

Zakaria – himself only 16 years of age – had already beaten Bryant twice earlier in the season, including in the British Junior Open final, but this time the Englishman would get his revenge, producing an outstanding display in a matchup between two of the most exciting prospects in squash. 

Bryant then rounded out his season with a win on his World Tour debut at the Manchester Open, before pushing World No.14 Youssef Ibrahim to five in the British Open.

Women’s award winner Walid also enjoyed a successful season on the Challenger Tour, claiming four titles, the most of any women’s player. 

Coming into the season in search of her maiden title, she didn’t have to wait long to get it, winning the Assore/Balwin Joburg Open in South Africa in September, beating compatriot Amina El Rihany 3-0 in the final. 

That result capped a dominant week in which Walid won the title without dropping a game, and she soon had more silverware to take home, collecting the BDO Namibian Open crown just seven days later. 

Semi-final appearances followed at the 20k Hamilton Open and the Aston and Fincher Sutton Coldfield International, before a return to home soil brought about a third tournament win, at the SODIC Squash Open in Egypt. 

Her fourth and final title of the season came at the Squash On Fire Open Wild Card Challenge, earning her a spot in the main draw of the World Tour Squash On Fire Open, where she certainly made her mark. 

A 3-2 round-one win over compatriot Kenzy Ayman secured her a spot in round two, where she staged a remarkable comeback to beat World No.24 Lucy Turmel, saving four match balls at 10-6 down in game three before turning things around to win a breathtaking five-game encounter. 

Walid then made another final at the 9k Bee-Clean Edmonton Squash Club Women’s Open and reached a new career-high ranking of No.65 in April, more than 50 places higher than where she started the season.