Challenger Tour Round-Up: Pragasam & Kumar Complete Malaysian Double on Busy Day of Finals

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

Top seeds Sehveetrraa Kumar and Darren Pragasam completed a Malaysian double at the Squash Racquets Association of Negeri Sembilan PSNS President’s Trophy, beating Heng Wai Wong and Ziad Ibrahim in the respective finals. 

19-year-old Kumar came into this tournament having won her most recent Challenger Tour event, and cruised into this final without dropping a game. 

But fourth seed Wong provided a much sterner test than she had seen all week, battling hard to force a deciding fifth after winning games two and four on tiebreaks. 

Ultimately, though, the No.1 seed kept her cool when it mattered, taking the fifth game with relative ease – 11-6 – to secure her third Tour title of the season, to go with a pair of runner-up finishes. 

Kumar’s victory in the women’s draw was followed more a more comfortable win for Pragasam in the men’s, as he eased past second seed Ibrahim 3-0. 

Pragasam had only needed 25 minutes to beat Andrik Lim in the semi-finals, while Ibrahim had spent more than an hour on court to see off Joachim Chuah, and the Malaysian made that advantage count 24 hours on. 

After winning the first game 11-6, Pragasam barely looked back, only losing six more points in the entire match, clinching his third Challenger Tour crown, and his second on home soil. 

Results: 
[1] Sehveetrraa Kumar (MAS) bt [4] Heng Wai Wong (MAS) 3-2: 11-4, 11-13, 11-8, 10-12, 11-6 (63m) 
[1] Darren Pragasam (MAS) bt [2] Ziad Ibrahim (EGY) 3-0: 11-6, 11-7, 11-6 (24m) 

Dynam Cup SQ-Cube Open 2024 

Ryunosuke Tsukue staged another impressive fightback to win the Dynam Cup SQ-Cube Open on home soil for the fourth consecutive year. 

The No.1 seed had overturned a 2-0 deficit in the quarter-finals and then trailed 2-1 in the semi-finals, fighting back to win both matches in five to reach the final. 

There, he met rising Egyptian talent Kareem El Torkey, who was targeting his fifth title of what has been a breakout season on the Challenger Tour. 

After taking game one 11-8, Tsukue then found himself in the same position as he did on semi-finals day, starring down the barrel of defeat at 2-1. 

But backed by the home crowd, he turned things around once more, winning the next two games 11-8, 11-6 to claim glory, well and truly stamping his authority on the tournament he’s made his own. 

The women’s final was set to be a mouthwatering matchup between two 16-year-old prodigies – India’s Anahat Singh and Egypt’s Ruqayya Salem – but not a single point was even played. 

An injury to Singh forced to withdraw prior to play starting, handing unseeded Salem the title, adding her to the exclusive list of players to win a title in their first ever event on the PSA Tour. 

Results: 
Ruqayya Salem (EGY) bt [3] Anahat Singh (IND) 3-0: Walkover 
[1] Ryunosuke Tsukue (JPN) bt [4] Kareem El Torkey (EGY) 3-2: 11-8, 3-11, 9-11, 11-8, 11-6 (60m) 

Trident Homes South Island Open 2024 

Rowan Damming finally claimed his first Tour title of the season at the Trident Homes South Island Open, while the in-form Madeleine Hylland secured the women’s title. 

Damming – a former world junior champion – had reached at least the semi-finals in seven of his previous nine events this campaign, but was still awaiting his first piece of silverware since last June. 

That all changed in the New Zealand city of Christchurch, though, as he got the better of home favourite Elijah Thomas in the final, winning 3-0. 

The women’s final, meanwhile, saw No.1 seed Lowri Roberts defeated by Norway’s Hylland, who won 3-1 to secure her second Tour title in her last three events. 

The 23-year-old is ranked at No.145 in the world, though that ranking is perhaps more a reflection of the small number of tournaments Hylland has played in the last couple of years than the level of her squash.

She played only one Challenger Tour event in each of 2022 and 2023, instead prioritising her studies (and squash) at Trinity College, where she recently graduated after helping the Bantams win the national collegiate championship. 

Having since turned her attentions more firmly to the professional game, Hylland is reaping the rewards, and now has her second Tour title after defeating the Welsh No.3 in New Zealand. 

City of Greater Bendigo International 2024 

19-year-old Erin Classen became the first Australian woman to win the City of Greater Bendigo International title for six years, beating Sri Lanka’s Chanithma Sinaly on finals day in Victoria. 

The matchup pitted the No.1 and No.2 seeds against each other, with Sinaly appearing in her first ever Tour final, while Classen was targeting a second title at this level. 

After a tight first game, it was the Sri Lankan who took the lead, winning it 11-9 to threaten an upset and deny the home crowd glory, but Classen settled her nerves and took control from there. 

She won game two 11-6 and then dominated three and four, taking them 11-4, 11-2 to wrap up victory in exactly half an hour. 

The men’s final was then won in even more dominant fashion by Pakistan’s Nasir Iqbal, who secured his first title since 2022. 

The 30-year-old was once as high as 35 in the world, and despite currently sitting at No.185, he still had far too much for Frenchman Matteo Carrouget in the final. 

In truth, only game two was any sort of contest, with Iqbal winning it 11-9, after taking the opener 11-4 and then sauntering through game three for the loss of just one point. 

Results: 
[1] Erin Classen (AUS) bt [2] Chanithma Sinaly (SRI) 3-1: 9-11, 11-6, 11-4, 11-2 (30m) 
[8] Nasir Iqbal (PAK) bt [5] Matteo Carrouget (FRA) 3-0:11-4, 11-9, 11-1 (27m)