Challenger Events
Challenger Tour Round-Up: Prow & Jeeva Win Bermuda Crowns, Singh Triumphs in Delhi
IQUW Bermuda Open 2024
Margot Prow and Sanjay Jeeva took home the titles on finals day at the IQUW Bermuda Open, with Prow claiming her second successive Challenger Tour crown, and Jeeva winning his first event at this level.
Unseeded Barbadian Prow could hardly have asked for a tougher route through to the final, having to get past No.1 seed Ineta Hopton in round two, then beating the No.8 and No.3 seeds in the next two rounds.
Her semi-final win over third seed Catalina Pelaez was particularly dramatic, as she fought back from two games down and then saved a match ball in the fifth before winning the deciding tiebreak.
Standing in her way in the final was Egyptian fourth seed Ingy Hammouda, but after winning two tight games 11-9 to get herself within one game of glory, Prow dominated in game three, taking it 11-5 to wrap up her second title in the last two weeks.
Her win was followed by a comfortable 3-0 victory for fellow lefty Jeeva in the men’s final.
The No.2 seed had not dropped a game in reaching this final, and continued that trend with the trophy at stake, sweeping aside Colombia’s Andres Herrera 11-7, 11-7, 11-3.
Hamdard Squashters Northern Slam 2024
Anahat Singh claimed her second straight Challenger Tour title, beating Korea’s Hwayeong Eum in just 19 minutes to clinch the Hamdard Squashters Northern Slam crown.
The 16-year-old prodigy – who still is combining playing with her school work – won the JSW Willingdon Little Masters & Senior Tournament in January without dropping a game, and repeated the feat here in her hometown of Delhi, capping a perfect week with an 11-6, 11-4, 11-5 win over Eum.
That result was followed by a hard-fought five-game win for Suraj Kumar Chand, who beat top seed Ravinda Laksiri to complete an Indian double in the country’s capital city.
Laksiri was beaten 3-2 by an Indian opponent in his last final on the Challenger Tour, and suffered the same feat in this one, falling to the No.2 seed in 84 minutes. Victory represents a first PSA Tour title for Chand in what was his second final.
Batch Open 2024
Melvil Scianimanico celebrated his 19th birthday in style, reaching his first Challenger Tour final by beating Emyr Evans in the Batch Open semi-finals.
The reigning French Junior Open champion had knocked out seventh seed Macéo Levy in round two and then got past No.2 seed Yassin Elshafei in five on quarter-finals day, but went one better by knocking out the Welsh No.2 3-1 in the last four.
He will now play India’s Velavan Senthilkumar for the trophy, after a dominant 3-0 win for the top seed over Andes Ling in the semi-finals, in which he dropped only nine points throughout.
Expression St. James Women’s 20k 2024
There will be an all-Egyptian final between the top two seeds at the Expression St. James Women’s 20k, where Farida Mohamed and Menna Hamed will go head-to-head for the title.
No.1 seed Mohamed is looking to secure her second successive PSA Tour title, and needed just 20 minutes to beat English rising star Saran Nghiem in the semi-finals, winning 11-4, 11-5, 11-2.
Hamed, meanwhile, was made to work hard for victory by Ukraine’s Alina Bushma, needing to overturn a one-game deficit and then win a third-game tiebreak en route to victory.
The pair will now go toe-to-toe for the fourth time on the PSA Tour, with Mohamed having won two of their previous three encounters, including at this year’s Squash in the Land Presented by Greater Cleveland Squash.
Rochester ProAm 2024
Pakistan’s Muhammad Ashab Irfan reached his third straight Challenger Tour final, beating Colombia’s Ronald Palomino in the Rochester ProAm semi-finals.
The 19-year-old finished as runner-up to compatriot Muhammad Asim Khan at both the Squash On Fire Open Wild Card Challenge and the Squash Inspire – Men’s Pro Challenger Tour presented by Play Squash Academy earlier this year, but will be hoping to make it third time lucky in Rochester.
He needed all five games to get past Palomino, though, taking the decider 11-4 after 75 minutes of play.
His opponent in the final will be Jorge Luis Gomez Dominguez of Mexico, who beat Khaled Labib. Labib had upset No.1 seed Kareem El Torkey in the last eight, but was unable to follow that up with another win one day later, going down 3-0 in 36 minutes.
