Challenger Tour Weekly Preview: Trio of North American Events

The Challenger Tour continues this week with the three tournaments taking place over the next seven days, all in North America.

Just a single tournament took place on Tour last week, with the 2nd Bangabandhu Squash Tournament Presented by Ishaphani Ltd being won by Sri Lanka’s Ravindu Laksiri in Dhaka on Sunday afternoon.

This week, the action begins with the White Oaks Court classic in St Catharines, Canada. The event starts on Tuesday, October 11 with the Concourse Athletic Club Open beginning a day later in Atlanta. The last tournament of the week will be the Burnt Squash Open, which begins on Friday, October 14.

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

White Oaks Court Classic
The first of three tournaments taking place this week will be the White Oaks Court Classic. The Challenger 5 level competition will take place from Tuesday, October 11 to Saturday, October 15 at The Club at White Oaks in St. Catharines, Canada.

A Canadian quartet will lead the way on home soil for the tournament, with Nick Sachvie as the top seed. He will be joined in that top four by compatriots Michael McCue, Salah Eltorgman and Liam Marrison.

Mexico’s Miled Zarazua and Dutchman Rowan Damming, the current World Junior Champion, will be the only non-Canadians in the top eight seeds for the competition. New Zealand’s Elijah Thomas, Colombia’s Santiago Orozco, Egypt’s Mahmoud Abouelleil, Pakistan’s Rafi Khan and Japan’s Jason Sano Herring will all be their nation’s sole representatives in the draw. 

Concourse Athletic Club Open
The biggest tournament of the week will be the Challenger 10 level Concourse Athletic Club Open. The event begins on Wednesday, October 12, with the Concourse Athletic Club in Atlanta playing host. 

Home favourite Faraz Khan will be the top seed, with Pakistan’s Muhammad Asim Khan and England’s Sam Todd as the other members of the world’s top 100 to be in action this week in Atlanta. The Guatemalan trio of Josue and Alejandro Enriquez, along with Ricardo Toscano, will also be in action. Joining them in the top eight seeds will be Egypt’s Aly Hussein and Pakistan’s Saeed Abdul. 

Jamie Ruggiero and the wildcard trio of Fletcher Cline, Varun Chitturi and Felipe Pantle will be the other home hopes in action, while England’s Lewis Doughty, Finnlay Withington and Jonah Bryant will be in the 24-strong field for the competition.

Burnt Squash Open
The last event of the week will also take place in the United States, with the Burnt Squash Open being played at the Cullman Courts in Lakeville, Connecticut. The tournament takes place from Friday, October 14 to Monday, October 17.

American Spencer Lovejoy will be the tournament’s top seed, with Egypt’s Seif Shenawy as his nearest challenger. India’s Abhishek Agarwal, Nigerian No.1 Babatunde Ajagbe, Malaysia’s Sanjay Jeeva, Egypt’s Abdelrahman Nassar and the Pakistani duo of Hamza Sharif and Muhammad Farhan Hashmi will make up the rest of the seeded players.

The Colombian duo of Nicolas Serna and Matias Knudsen will also be in action in Lakeville this week, and they will be joined by American Callan Venkatesan. The 17-year-old will be the tournament’s wildcard, and he will make his debut on Tour at the event.

This Week’s Schedule:
White Oaks Court Classic: Tuesday, October 11 – Saturday, October 15
Concourse Athletic Club Open: Wednesday, October 12 – Sunday, October 16
Burnt Squash Open: Friday, October 14 – Monday, October 17