Challenger Tour Round-Up: Hamed Wins Richmond Title, Azaña Ends Bryant’s Winning Streak

Richmond Open 2024 

Menna Hamed claimed the biggest title of her career, and her ninth overall on the PSA Tour, beating Sana Ibrahim in an all-Egyptian Richmond Open final. 

The Egyptian pair had both produced impressive performances to oust the top two seeds in the semi-finals, with Ibrahim beating top seed Sabrina Sobhy 3-0, and Hamed knocking out the in-form Farida Mohamed. 

They had never met before on the PSA Tour, and despite there being more than 20 places between them in the rankings, there was little to split the two in the early exchanges. 

Third seed Ibrahim led most of the way through game one, only to see her 8-5 advantage evaporate, with Hamed fighting back to take the opener on a tiebreak. 

Ibrahim did hold onto her lead in game two, taking it 11-9, and then fought back from an early 3-0 deficit in game three to clinch that by the same scoreline. 

Hamed, though, was not about to throw in the towel. 

She once again opened up a 3-0 lead in game four, and this time closed out the game 11-7 on a stroke, as the match approached the hour mark. 

At 3-3 in the fifth, proceedings were on a knife edge, but the No.6 seed took control from there, reeling off six points on the bounce to move within touching distance of glory. 

Ibrahim got one more point on the board, but Hamed did not have to wait long for victory, letting out a cry of emotion as Ibrahim slammed a backhand serve return into the tin on match ball.

Victory for Hamed is her first in a 30k event, with all eight of her previous successes coming in either 5k or 10k tournaments. 

The New York Hyder Trophy 2024 

Jeremias Azaña ended Jonah’s Bryant’s impressive winning streak on the Challenger Tour, denying the 18-year-old talent a place in The New York Hyder Trophy final.

Bryant had won his last three events and his last 16 matches on tour, but fell one step short of a fourth straight final, going down 3-0 to the Argentine fourth seed. 

The 3-0 scoreline only tells half the story, with games two and three both going to tiebreaks after Azaña had made a flying start by winning game one 11-2. 

Full credit, though, must go to the 23-year-old from Cordoba, who is into the biggest final of his career, targeting a second trophy on the PSA Tour. 

His opponent will be No.2 seed Kareem El Torkey, who came out on top of an all-Egyptian semi-final with Khaled Labib. 

Like Azaña, El Torkey is now into his biggest final to date, and has the chance to clinch a fourth Challenger Tour title of what has been a memorable the season, after beating Labib 3-1 in 48 minutes. 

Meanwhile, the women’s final will be contested between the top two seeds, Chan Sin Yuk and Alex Haydon. 

Top seed Chan got the better of the in-form Margot Prow, who saw her own Challenger Tour winning streak come to an end at 11 matches. 

Haydon, meanwhile, booked her spot in the final with an epic five-game win over Egyptian teenager Nour Megahed. 

The pair went toe-to-toe for more than an hour on the glass court at Open Squash FiDi, with Megahed twice on the cusp of victory, as both games four and five headed to tiebreaks. 

Ultimately, though, she was unable to get over the line having earlier taken a 2-1 lead, with Haydon closing out both games 12-10 to reach her third Challenger Tour final. 

AGL Hunter Singleton Open 2024 

Bryan Tze Kang Lim collected his fifth title on the PSA Tour, and his second of the season, beating top seed Temwa Chileshe in the AGL Hunter Singleton Open final. 

The Malaysian won the Bondi Open on his last trip Down Under, and emerged victorious on his return to New South Wales this week, getting the better of the New Zealander.