Challenger Tour Weekly Preview: Young Stars in Northern Joe Cup, Soares to Defend Madeira Crown

There are six events on the PSA Challenger Tour this week, headlined by the Northern Joe Cup, which features a whole host of exciting talents. 

The Manchester-based tournament, played in memory of Joe Rawcliffe, boasts a number of young prospects, with the world junior champion Hamza Khan and reigning British junior champion Jonah Bryant set to face off in round one.  

Egypt’s Mohamad Zakaria, runner-up to Khan in the World Junior Championships final, is also in action, as is 19-year-old Finnlay Withington, the men’s No.2 seed who will be playing at his home club. 

The women’s field features five teenagers at the top of the draw, all of whom are inside the world’s top 100, headlined by 19-year-old Torrie Malik, the runner-up in this event 12 months ago. 

Malik has since won six PSA Tour titles in what has been a breakout year for the 19-year-old, and she enters here as the No.1 seed. 

2022 champion Saran Nghiem and fellow English teenager Asia Harris are the No.3 and 4 seeds respectively, while the 2023 British junior girl’s champion, Amelie Haworth, is also set to feature. 

The Northern Joe Cup will stream live on the PSA Live Streaming YouTube channel, as will the International Tournament Madeira Island, where Bernat Jaume and Chan Yiwen are the No.1 seeds. 

No.2 seed in the men’s draw is Portugal’s Rui Soares, who won this tournament a year ago, and returns to defend his crown on home soil. 

Soares is the only Portuguese player in the men’s draw, while Sofia Aveiro Pita, Catarina Nunes and Mariana Ventura Martins carry home hopes in the women’s competition, where Katerina Tycova is also back to defend her title. 

Elsewhere, there are tournaments in Canada, France, Mexico and Colombia on the Challenger Tour this week. 

The BKY Technologies Open in Edmonton is the biggest of the four, as a 9k event, with Perry Malik and Salah Eltorgman the top two seeds. 

Malik and Eltorgman went head-to-head in the UNDERHILL GEOMATICS Sport Central Open final in Vancouver last week, and will face off for the trophy once again if their results follow the seedings. 

Les Elles de l’Est is the latest leg of the Green Squash Tour, with French 16-year-old Lauren Baltayan the No.1 seed, targeting a second PSA Tour title. 

All but two of the entrants into the NextCloud Tekae TIPSSA PSA Pedro Luna are from Mexico, with Guatemalan duo Luis Quisquinay and Sebastián Fonseca the only exceptions, and it’s a similar tale of home focus in Bogota, where Ronald Palomino is one of seven Colombian seeds at the PI Constructora IlI Open Colombiano La Pradera 2023. 

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