Challenger Tour Round-Up: Chen Fights Back as Kros Claims First Tour Win

ACE Challenger 6K 2nd Leg 2024 

15-year-old Erwin Kros recorded his first win on the PSA Tour, beating Sri Lanka’s Tuwin Nilakshana Herath on day one at the ACE Challenger 6K 2nd Leg. 

The teenager made his Tour debut at the Squash Racquets Association of Negeri Sembilan PSNS President’s Trophy last month, but went out in round one after retiring with an injury. 

He now has a win under his belt, though, after seeing off the 24-year-old Sri Lankan 3-1, winning 11-5, 8-11, 11-7, 11-3 in 44 minutes. 

That result was the only match on court one to go more than three games, with 16-year-old Barb Sameh among those to record a comfortable 3-0 win. 

The young Egyptian, who is playing just her second Challenger Tour event having collected the trophy at her first, eased past Indonesia’s Raifa Putri Yattaqi 3-0 to set up a second-round meeting with seventh seed Goh Zhi Xuan. 

There was, however, an impressive five-game win in the opening match on court two between Yu Jie Chen and Aika Azman. 

Azman – a former World No.80 who is the older sister of top-100 stars Aira and Aifa – took a 2-0 lead after winning both of the first two games 11-8, but the 19-year-old Chen turned things around from there, reeling off three games in row to clinch victory. 

Victorian Open 2024 

Noor ul Huda held off an impressive fightback from wildcard Carina Loi to avoid an upset on day one at the Victorian Open. 

Loi does not currently have a PSA ranking, while ul Huda is a top-250 player who has a career-high of No.113 in the world, and for the first two games, it looked as though the Pakistani player was cruising into round two. 

But Loi had other ideas, taking games three and four by the same 11-7 scoreline to a force a decider and keep the home crowd on edge. 

Ultimately, though, she was unable to complete the comeback, falling 11-8 in the fifth, with ul Huda now set to play another Australian in the form of fifth seed Sophie Fadaely. 

In the men’s draw, in-form Nasir Iqbal kicked off his quest for a third successive title, crushing Remi Young 3-0 in only 20 minutes, losing just four points in the entire match. 

You can see all the results on the PSA Challenger Tour here.