Challenger Tour Weekly Preview: Six Nations, Six Events

It’s yet another busy week on the Challenger Tour, with six tournaments kicking off over the next seven days, with those being held across six nations in three continents.

Five events took place over the last week, with Spain’s Borja Golan and Egypt’s Farida Mohamed claiming the titles at the two biggest tournaments. The Spaniard won the Open International Niort Venise Verte, while the World No.15 won the Rhode Island Open crown.

Colombia’s Laura Tovar and Guatemalan Josue Enriquez were the winners at the SACC Costa Rica Open, while Switzerland’s Ambre Allinckx won in Paris. England’s Finnlay Withington and Torrie Malik were victorious on home soil at the Telsa Media David Lloyd Purley Open.

This week, there will be six more events on Tour, starting with the Wake Up Squash Angers International and the men’s event at the Kinetic 5k Challenger, which both get underway on Tuesday, November 15.

The London Open, Romanian Open, 4th HCL SRFI Indian Tour – Jodhpur Leg and 2nd Kuwait International Squash Championship will also be on the schedule this week.

Here is what takes place on Tour over the next seven days…

Wake Up Squash Angers International
The first tournament of the week will be the Wake Up Squash Angers International, which will take place from Tuesday, November 15 to Friday, November 18 at Wake Up Form Angers.

Denmark’s Klara Moller will be the top seed for the Challenger 3 level women’s draw, with compatriot Caroline Long among the top four seeds. They will be joined by Scotland’s Katriona Allen and Frenchwoman Lea Barbeau. Switzerland’s Ambre Allinckx, who won the Open Feminin du Jeu de Paume on Sunday, will also be seeded.

Kinetic 5k Challenger (Men’s)
The first men’s tournament of the week will be the Kinetic 5k Challenger, which will be held at the Kinetic Indoor Racquet Club Florida from Tuesday, November 15 to Friday, November 18.

Canadian No.1 David Baillargeon will be the top seed, following on from his stellar run at the New Zealand Open. England’s Tom Walsh and the Guatemalan duo of Alejandro Enriquez and Ricardo Toscano will make up the rest of the top four seeds.

London Open
The London Open returns to the calendar this year, with the event featuring a men’s Challenger 20 and a women’s Challenger 10 level competition. The event will take place from Wednesday, November 16 to Sunday, November 20 at the Cumberland Club.

Reigning three-time champion James Willstrop will be the top seed for this week’s event, as he aims to win a fourth consecutive London Open crown. Compatriots George Parker, Nathan Lake and Nick Wall make up the rest of the top four seeds for the tournament, with Egypt’s Aly Abou Eleinen and Portuguese No.1 Rui Soares also among those seeded in the draw.

2015 champion Millie Tomlinson will be the top seed in the women’s event, with fellow Englishwoman Katie Malliff, Scotland’s Alison Thomson and Egyptian Hana Moataz also in contention. Anna Kimberley and Torrie Malik, the latter of whom has won in back-to-back weeks on Tour, will also be seeded on home soil.

Romanian Open
The VIVO Cluj-Napoca plays host to this week’s Romanian Open, which will be on the calendar for the fifth time. Englishman Ben Smith, who won the Swiss Open earlier this season, will be the top seed for the Challenger 5 level tournament which begins on Thursday, November 17.

The Czech trio of Marek Panacek, Ondrej Vorlicek and David Zeman will all be seeded, along with the Spanish duo of Marc Lopex and Nilo Vidal, Ireland’s Sean Conroy and Welshman Elliott Morris Devred.

4th HCL SRFI Indian Tour – Jodhpur Leg
The second event of the 4th HCL SRFI Indian Tour takes place this week, with the Jodhpur Leg taking place from Thursday, November 17 to Monday, November 21 across two venues in the Indian city.

Egypt’s Zahed Salem and Malaysia’s Aira Azman will be the top seeds for the Challenger 10 level competition, which will also feature 17 Indians taking part on home soil.

2nd Kuwait International Squash Championship
The final event of the week will be the 2nd Kuwait International Squash Championship, which will take place in Hawally from Saturday, November 19 to Wednesday, November 23.

Egypt’s Yassin Elshafei will be the top seed once again, with compatriots Khaled Labib and Seif Shenawy among the top four seeds. Czech Republic’s Martin Svec, and the Hong Kong duo of Wong Chi Him and Tang Ming Hong will join home favourite Ammar Altamimi as the seeded players.

This Week’s Schedule:
Wake Up Squash Angers International: Tuesday, November 15 – Friday, November 18
Kinetic 5k Challenger (Men’s): Tuesday, November 15 – Friday, November 18
London Open: Wednesday, November 16 – Sunday, November 20
Romanian Open: Thursday, November 17 – Sunday, November 20
4th HCL SRFI Indian Tour – Jodhpur Leg: Thursday, November 17 – Monday, November 21
2nd Kuwait International Squash Championship: Saturday, November 19 – Wednesday, November 23