Challenger Tour Round-Up: Prow and Scianimanico Continue to Impress

IQUW Bermuda Open 2024 

Margot Prow remains on course for back-to-back Challenger Tour titles, after a dramatic comeback win over Catalina Pelaez in the IQUW Bermuda Open semi-finals. 

The unseeded Barbadian was 2-0 down in less than 20 minutes, and 5-4 down in the third, with victory looking a long way off. 

But she rallied to take game three 11-7 and keep herself alive, then took the fourth by the same scoreline to set up a tense and tight decider. 

Never once was there more than two points between the two players in game five, with the lead changing hands five times on the way to a 10-9 lead for Pelaez. 

She was unable to take match ball, though, and Prow made it count, claiming the tiebreak 12-10 to reach her biggest final to date. 

The first men’s semi-final also went the distance, as Colombian duo Andres Herrera and Matias Knudsen battled it out, with the sixth-seeded Herrera following in Prow’s footsteps by fighting back from a two-game deficit to book his spot in the final. 

Egypt’s Ingy Hammouda and Malaysia’s Sanjay Jeeva had more straightforward routes through their semi-finals, both winning 3-0. 

Batch Open 2024 

Unseeded French star Melvil Scianimanico continued his memorable week at the Batch Open, stunning No.2 seed Yassin Elshafei 3-2 to reach the semi-finals in Paris. 

The Egyptian came into this event on the back of winning the BRESS Breda Open, but saw his chances of claiming consecutive titles ended by the 18-year-old, who will now hope to celebrate his birthday in style, turning 19 on semi-finals day. 

The other three quarter-finals were far more one-sided, with Velavan Senthilkumar, Andes Ling and Emyr Evans all winning in straight games, beating Jakub Solnicky, Hazem Hossam and Brice Nicolas respectively. 

Expression St. James Women’s 20k 2024 

The top two seeds, Farida Mohamed and Menna Hamed, are both through to the Expression St. James Women’s 20k semi-finals, but the third and fourth seeds went out on quarter-finals day. 

No.1 seed Mohamed was pushed all the way by former World No.18 Danielle Ray, who took the Egyptian deep into a fifth game, before eventually falling 11-8 in the decider, while Hamed needed only three games to beat Australia’s Alex Haydon. 

Meanwhile, third seed Nardine Garas was denied a place in the final four by the in-form Saran Nghiem, who sunk the Egyptian in a lengthy four-game battle, in which two of the four games went to tiebreaks. 

After taking the first 12-10, Nghiem was soundly beaten in the second, losing it 11-2, but regained her focus to take game three 11-8, before clinching the fourth 14-12. 

Fourth seed Akanksha Salunkhe was also beaten, losing 3-0 to Ukraine’s No.5 seed Alina Bushma. 

Hamdard Squashters Northern Slam 2024 

Top seed Ravindu Laksiri gained revenge on home favourite Rahul Baitha, beating the No.3 seed in a breathtaking five-game epic in the Hamdard Squashters Northern Slam quarter-finals. 

Baitha had beaten Laksiri in the JSW 9th Sunil Verma Memorial Open final at the back end of last year, a match that also went the distance, with the Sri Lankan throwing away a two-game lead. 

Fortunes were reversed in nailbiting circumstances here in Delhi, though, with Laksiri this time the one to battle back from 2-0 down. 

Not only that, but he saved match balls at 10-9 down in the fourth and then 10-8 down in the fifth, before taking his second opportunity in the deciding tiebreak, clinching it 13-11. 

Laksiri will now play second seed Suraj Kumar Chand for the title, with the Indian having enjoyed a much less eventful semi-final, beating Korea’s Ryu Jeongmin 3-0. 

Both women’s semi-finals also finished 3-0, as Anahat Singh beat Jihyun Lee, before Hwayeong Eum saw off Anjali Semwal. 

Rochester ProAm 2024 

Top seed Kareem El Torkey crashed out at the quarter-final stage of the Rochester ProAm, losing 3-1 to fellow Egyptian Khaled Labib. 

The 19-year-old showcased his aggressive style and shot-making abilities on his way to an 11-5 win in game one, but the more experienced Labib turned things around from there, winning the next three games to reach the semi-finals. 

Earlier in the day, Ronald Palomino had continued his good run of form with a hard-fought win over Austria’s Aqeel Rehman. 

The final scoreline read 3-0 to the Colombian, but the nature of the match told a different story, with Palomino needing tiebreaks to win two of the three games.

He will now play Muhammad Ashab Irfan in the last four, while Labib faces Mexico’s Jorge Luis Gomez Dominguez, who beat the USA’s Salim Khan.