Challenger Tour Weekly Preview: Events In Malaysia and Spain

The Challenger Tour continues this week with another pair of events, with action taking place in Malaysia and Spain over the next seven days.

Over the last week, Japan’s Ryunosuke Tsukue and Sri Lanka’s Ravindu Laksiri have tasted success on the Tour. Tsukue claimed his second win of the season, taking the title at the Heroes Austrian Open. Meanwhile, Laksiri was the victor at the City of Kalgoorlie – Boulder Golden Open in Australia.

This week, we have action in both Malaysia and Spain, with two events beginning on Thursday, June 8. The Open Costa Brava Squash Project features a women’s Challenger 3 level draw, while both men and women will feature at the PSNS President’s Trophy, which returns to the calendar.

Here is what takes place this week on Tour…

Open Costa Brava Squash Project
The Tipi Park Sports Center plays host to the first event of the week, the Open Costa Brava Squash Project. The women’s Challenger 3 level competition will take place from Thursday, June 8 to Saturday, June 10 in Santa Cristina D’Aro, Spain.

An English trio will lead the way in the draw. Asia Harris, Saran Nghiem and Kiera Marshall will be the top three seeds, with France’s Lea Barbeau rounding out the top four seeds.

Two more Frenchwomen, Taba Taghavi and Ella Galova, will also be seeded. They will be joined by Egypt’s Hana Ismail and Spain’s Sofia Mateos, who will be on of two Spaniards in action on home soil. Ona Blasco will join her compatriot in aiming to win in her nome nation this week.

PSNS President’s Trophy
This week sees the return of the PSNS President’s Trophy, with the tournament first being held last year. This year’s edition will also take place at the Royal Seri Menanti Golf & Country Club in Seremban, Malaysia, with the action beginning on Thursday, June 8.

The event will feature both a men’s and women’s Challenger 5 level draw, with men’s defending champion Darren Rahul Pragasam in action. He will be the leading Malaysian in action on home soil, with Egypt’s Khaled Labib and Mohamed Nasser as the top two seeds.

Abdelrahman Abdelkhalek will make it three Egyptians among the eight seeds. He will be joined by four more Malaysians. Wee Ming Hock, Ong Sai Hung, Hafiz Zhafri and Amir Amirul will all feature on home soil.

The women’s draw features a similar pattern, with the majority of the top eight seeds hailing from Egypt or Malaysia. Menna Hamed will be the top seed, with compatriot Nour Ramy as the No.3 seed. Xin Ying Yee is the leading home hope, joined by Ooi Kah Yan, Sehveetrraa Kumar, Heng Wai Wong and Shasmithaa Nityanandan in the seeded eight. Singaporean No.2 Leia Lee Zi Fang will be the other member of the top eight seeds.

This Week’s Schedule:
Open Costa Brava Squash Project: Thursday, June 8 – Saturday, June 10
PSNS President’s Trophy: Thursday, June 8 – Sunday, June 11