Challenger Tour Round-Up: Soares into Third Straight Madeira Final, 16-Year-Old Duo to Meet in France

International Tournament Madeira Island 

Rui Soares and Moustafa El Sirty will go head-to-head in the International Tournament Madeira Island final for the second time in three years, after both players won their respective semi-final matches. 

Soares was beaten by the Egyptian in the 2021 final and then fell short once again last year, losing to Balazs Farkas, but will hope it’s third time lucky in Funchal 

The Portuguese player came through a five-game battle with Egyptian veteran Mazen Gamal, and speaking after his win, Soares said: “I’m very happy to have won today. It was a very tough game.” 

“Mazen was very solid as I expected. He’s a very experienced player and the first three games were very difficult. In the last two he felt some more physical fatigue and I finally managed to get him out of the middle of the court. 

“It was a game of patience. It was a mental game because he is a very difficult player to break. 

“It’s my third final in a row here in Madeira – let’s see if it’s my turn on the third one. I will give one hundred percent. Moustafa is a very difficult player to play and I can only give everything tomorrow.” 

El Sirty, meanwhile, is into the final of what is his first tournament since February, beating England’s Ben Smith 3-1 in the semi-finals. 

The women’s final will be contested between the top two seeds, after both Chan Yiwen and Rana Ismail won their semi-finals in straight games. 

Top seed Yiwen needed just 22 minutes to see off Tessa ter Sluis, winning 11-9, 11-3, 11-2, while Ismail, who reached the semi-finals of the London Open last week, beat Austria’s Jacqueline Peychär 11-5, 11-8, 11-9. 

BKY Technologies Open 

Salah Eltorgman remains on course for a second consecutive PSA Tour title, after reaching the BKY Technologies Open final. 

The young Canadian claimed the UNDERHILL GEOMATICS Sport Central Open crown last week, and will now play Abdelrahman Nassar for the trophy in Edmonton. 

Nassar is also targeting a second straight tour success after winning the Burnt Squash Open in October, and booked his spot in this final by beating top seed Perry Malik in the last four. 

Malik himself was looking to reach a second final in as many weeks, having been beaten by Eltorgman in Vancouver a few days ago, but went down 3-1 to the Egyptian. 

Eltorgman, meanwhile, progressed into the final with a comfortable 3-0 win over Hong Kong’s Leo Chung. 

Les Elles de l’Est 2023 

Two 16-year-olds will go head-to-head in the Les Elles de l’Est final, with French No.1 seed Lauren Baltayan set to take on unseeded Egyptian Nadien Elhammamy. 

Baltayan already has one PSA Tour title to her name, and is looking to add another on home soil, having reached the final with a 3-0 win over England’s Kiera Marshall, meaning she is yet to drop a game in the tournament. 

Elhammamy – 2023 Egyptian Junior Open champion – is also through without having lost a game all week, a remarkable achievement in what is her first ever PSA Tour event. 

PI Constructora IlI Open Colombiano La Pradera  

Ronald Palomino knocked out No.1 seed Edgar Ramirez to reach the PI Constructora IlI Open Colombiano La Pradera final, where he will face Jose Santamaria. 

Palomino is the No.3 seed at this event, but only due to a long injury layoff which saw him miss much of 2023, having previously had a career-high ranking of No.70 in the world. 

He dropped game one against Ramirez in their semi-final matchup, but barely took a step back after that, losing only six more points in the entire match. 

The second semi-final saw Santamaria beat Sebastian Rodriguez Rayo 11-6, 11-7, 10-12, 11-8 in 50 minutes. 

You can stay up to date with all the results on the PSA Tour here.