Challenger Tour Round-Up: Azman Gets Lucky Loser Spot after Loss; Donnelly Wins NZ Thriller

Squash Racquets Association of Negeri Sembilan PSNS President’s Trophy 2024 

Joachim Chuah made a confident start to his quest for a third straight Challenger Tour title on day one at the Squash Racquets Association of Negeri Sembilan PSNS President’s Trophy. 

The 19-year-old Malaysian has reached the final of his three most recent events, winning the last two, and is actually the fourth-highest ranked player in the draw here, despite being unseeded. 

He kicked off his quest for more glory against fellow Malaysian Tay Jun Qian, with the players sharing some long, punishing rallies, but Chuah was never truly troubled, winning 11-5, 11-6, 11-5 in 56 minutes. 

Chuah was one of six [9/16] seeds to progress in the men’s draw, with Jason Sano Herring and Wajiullah Nasim the only exceptions. 

Nasim lost 3-0 to Andrik Lim in 25 minutes, while Herring went down by the same scoreline to Sunil Kumar Sivanesan. 

In the women’s draw, former World No.80 Aika Azman made her return to the Challenger Tour for the first time since 2022, and will play in round two despite losing in round one. 

The 27-year-old lost 3-1 to fellow Malaysian Kah Yan Ooi – another former top-100 player – but was granted a lucky-loser spot in round two, due to Rathika Suthanthira Seelan’s withdrawal. 

By pure coincidence, Seelan was due to play Yan Ooi on day two, meaning Azman will now have a shot at revenge against the same player she lost to in round one. 

Dynam Cup SQ-Cube Open 2024 

Kurumi Takahashi fought back from 2-1 down to win a thrilling five-game encounter as play got underway in the Dynam Cup SQ-Cube Open. 

The 19-year-old Japanese player was facing an opponent 16 years her senior in compatriot Ayaka Matsuzawa, and despite falling behind after losing games one and three, the teenager eventually prevailed, edging a tight deciding game 11-9. 

Ayumi Watanabe also recorded a five-game win to reach round two, holding off Chaewon Song’s comeback to win 11-8 in the fifth after seeing her two-game lead erased, while Macau’s Gigi Yeung put in the most dominant performance of the day to beat Deborah Leong, losing only four points in her 14-minute demolition. 

The standout performance in the men’s draw came courtsey of Malaysia’s Bryan Lim, who lost a first-game tiebreak to Naoki Hayashi before turning things around to win 3-1. 

Trident Homes South Island Open 2024 

William Donnelly booked his spot in round two of the Trident Homes South Island Open in dramatic fashion, beating Glenn Templeton in a fifth-game tiebreak. 

Donnelly was looking to record his first Challenger Tour win since February, but fell 2-1 behind despite taking the opening game 11-5. 

But the 23-year-old rallied to force a deciding game by winning the fourth 11-8, and eventually got over the line after 45 minutes of action, winning 13-11 in the deciding breaker. 

That match was immediately followed by a completely contrasting win for Stephen Hearst, who demolished Varun Johnny 3-0 in only 10 minutes, winning 11-0, 11-2, 11-2 to set up a second-round clash with sixth seed Benjamin Ratcliffe. 

15-year-old Egyptian prodigy Adam Hawal also made a winning start to his week, beating Samoa’s Mason Smales 3-1. 

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