Challenger Tour Round-Up: 15-Year-Olds Eissa & Hawal Record Big Wins

Open International Vendée Squash 2024 

All eight seeds progressed into the Open International Vendée Squash quarter-finals, though fifth seed Joshua Phinera and sixth seed Manuel Paquemar both did things the hard way. 

After watching fellow Frenchman Macéo Levy beat Germany’s Finn Koch in the opening match of round two, Phinera stepped on court to play Argentina’s Robertino Pezzota, a player ranked outside the world’s top 400. 

But two games in, the fifth seed found himself staring down the barrel of defeat after losing each of the first two games on a tiebreak, only to keep himself alive by winning a tiebreak of his own in game three. 

Games four and five were almost as close, but the Frenchman – 19 years his opponent’s junior – made his youthful advantage count in the end, taking them 11-9, 11-8 to secure a last-eight berth. 

Paquemar’s win over compatriot Matteo Carrouget later in the day followed a similar pattern, as the 19-year-old won games one and two before Paquemar turned things around, clinching the next three games 11-8, 11-9, 11-9 to advance. 

Gibraltar Open 2024 

17-year-old Ona Blasco fought back from 2-1 down to reach round two at the Gibraltar Open, beating Bulgaria’s Selena Georgieva in 44 minutes on day one. 

Blasco is the reigning Spanish junior champion and but fell behind twice against Georgieva, losing the first game 12-10 and the third 11-6. 

The young Spaniard then forced a decider by winning game four 11-8 when a forehand boast found the tin from Georgieva’s racquet, and she completed the turnaround a few minutes later, wrapping up victory 11-4 in the fifth with a delicate forehand drop. 

Blasco wasn’t the only Spanish woman to need all five games to reach round two, with Noa Romero beating Aylin Günsav 3-2, while there was also a comeback win for rising English star Mariam Eissa. 

15-year-old Eissa lost game one to 17-year-old Scot Robyn McAlpine, but reeled off three games on the bounce from there, closing out victory with a stroke down the backhand side. 

The men’s draw featured a more one-sided set of results, with none of the matches going to five, though there were still plenty of upsets nonetheless, with five of the [9/16] seeds crashing out. 

Among them was Hong Kong’s Wilson Chan, who was comfortably beaten by Spanish World No.688 Victor Reguera, the lowest ranked player in the draw. 

Round two of the Gibraltar Open begins at 2:30pm local time (1:30pm BST) on Thursday, June 20, with all matches streaming live on the SQUASHTV Live Streaming YouTube channel.

Skillzea Open 2024 

15-year-old Egyptian Adam Hawal caused a huge upset on day two of the Skillzea Open, stunning top seed and former world junior champion Rowan Damming in a five-game thriller. 

Hawal is playing in just his second ever Challenger Tour event and had dispatched local player Maz Saunders in only 12 minutes in round one, but faced a much sterner test 24 hours later in the form of Damming. 

Undeterred by the calibre of his opponent, Hawal went toe-to-toe with Damming over 69 minutes of hard-fought action, before bringing up match ball when a sprawling Damming was unable to get a backhand up. 

A tense rally then ensued but it was Damming who blinked first, hitting a backhand into the tin to hand victory to Hawal, who let out a huge roar of emotion. 

Hawal will now face another Dutchman in the form of Sam Gerrits in round two, while Lwamba Chileshe and Joel Arscott will square off in an all-New Zealand clash later in the day. 

Both Chileshe and Arscott recorded 3-0 wins in round two, beating Mason Smales and Matt Gregory respectively, while Chileshe’s younger brother Temwa also won 3-0, knocking out fellow Kiwi, William Donnelly. 

Life Time Mississauga Cafe de Khan Challenger 2024 presented by Jilani Place 

Seven of the eight [9/16] seeds won on a largely one-sided day one of the Life Time Mississauga Cafe de Khan Challenger presented by Jilani Place. 

The first seven matches all followed the seedings, with only Youssef Taha needing more than three games to book his spot in round two, but there was an upset to close out the day, and a popular one at that. 

Playing on a familiar court at his home club, Canadian teenager Wasey Maqsood knocked out compatriot Will Harris to round out the day, showing exceptional retrieval skills throughout the matchup on his way to an 11-2, 11-9, 11-6 victory. 

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

Photo credit: Jasmin Walter