Challenger Tour Round-Up: Lai & Chan Win in Hong Kong, Mekbib & Cepová Complete Czech Double

Hong Kong Squash PSA Challenge Cup – 2nd Leg 

Matthew Lai claimed glory on home soil at the Hong Kong Squash PSA Challenge Cup – 2nd Leg, beating Pakistan’s Noor Zaman in the final. 

No.3 seed Zaman came into this final looking to secure a second successive PSA Tour title, after winning the CAS-Serena Hotels International Squash Championship in December, but he was outplayed by the fifth seed, who won 11-8, 11-7, 11-6 in just 25 minutes. 

Victory represents a second tour title for the 25-year-old Lai, with his first also coming in Hong Kong, at the KCC PSA Challenge Cup 2 earlier this season. 

Lai’s win in this final followed an even more one-sided event in the women’s draw, with Malaysia’s Yiwen Chan needing just 24 minutes to sink Egypt’s Amina El Rihani. 

Like Zaman, El Rihany had claimed glory at the CAS-Serena Hotels event before Christmas, but suffered an almost identical fate here, failing to win more than six points in any of the three games against the No.2 seed. 

For Chan, this win ends a frustrating run of finals, having finished second in each of her three most recent matches with the trophy on the line at a tournament.

Result: Men’s Final 
[5] Matthew Lai (HKG) bt [3] Noor Zaman (PAK) 3-0: 11-8, 11-7, 11-6 (25m) 

Women’s Final 
[2] Yiwen Chan (MAS) bt [4] Amina El Rihany (EGY) 3-0: 11-5, 11-4, 11-6 (24m) 

Brno Open 

Daniel Mekbib and Michaela Cepová claimed glory at the Brno Open, both winning all-Czech finals to get their hands on the trophies. 

Perhaps surprisingly given their longevity on the circuit, Mekbib and his opponent Martin Svec had only ever faced off once before on the PSA Tour, way back in 2015 with Svec winning 3-2, but that result was always unlikely to have any impact on proceedings here. 

Instead, it was perhaps the pair’s respective record in finals that would give a better indication of how things would unfold, with top seed Svec having won just two of his previous 10, while Mekbib had won six of 11. 

And indeed that would prove to be the case, with Mekbib taking a tight opening game 11-8, before running away with things from there, taking the next two 11-4, 11-6 to clinch the title, the seventh of his career. 

In contrast, the women’s final pitted two first-time finalists against each other, with 16-year-old Karolína Šrámková hoping to add a PSA Tour title to the Czech Junior Open crown she’d already won this year. 

Instead, though, it was 23-year-old Michaela Cepová who came out on top, eventually emerging victorious after close to an hour of play, winning a deciding fifth game 11-7. 

Result: Men’s Final 
[2] Daniel Mekbib (CZE) bt [1] Martin Svec (CZE) 3-0: 11-8, 11-4, 11-6 (28m) 

Results: Women’s Final 
[6] Michaela Cepová (CZE) bt [5] Karolína Šrámková (CZE) 3-2: 7-11, 11-7, 11-4, 6-11, 11-7 (54m)