Challenger Tour Weekly Preview: Young Stars on Show in Ipswich, Edmonton Hosts 9K

The PSA Challenger Tour hits UK soil for the first time in 2024 this week, with Ipswich playing host to a 12k event for both men and women, while there’s also a 9k men’s competition in the Canadian city of Edmonton. 

Ipswich Sports Club Challenger Cup 2024 sponsored by Security Foiling 

Some of squash’s most talented young stars are on show this week at the Ipswich Sports Club, where the Ipswich Sports Club Challenger Cup sponsored by Security Foiling takes place. 

Both men’s finalists from the recent British Junior Open U19’s event are in action, with Mohamad Zakaria the No.2 seed and Jonah Bryant in action from day one. 

They are just two of five junior players in the competition, with Lauren Baltayan, Nour Khafagy and Amelie Haworth all in the women’s draw, which also features the Asia Harris. 

Harris is the No.3 seed, sat just below compatriots Katie Malliff and Millie Tomlinson in the draw, with Malliff returning to the PSA Tour for the first time since suffering an injury at the Grasshopper Cup in October. 

The other five seeds in the women’s event represent five different nationalities, while all eight of the men’s seeds hail from different countries. 

Stay tuned to the PSA website and Challenger Tour social channels tomorrow for an in-depth preview of the Ipswich Sports Club Challenger Cup. 

The Bee-Clean Edmonton Squash Club Winter Open 2024 

The second event this week is The Bee-Clean Edmonton Squash Club Winter Open, a 9k tournament at the Edmonton Squash Club in Alberta. 

Mexico’s Alfredo Avila Vergara is the top seed, hoping to replicate the success he enjoyed in Alberta at the start of 2023, when he won the Christianson Classic. 

Avila Vergara is a 21-time winner on the PSA Tour, with the most recent of those coming at the Copa Mexico Temazcal earlier this season. 

Hong Kong duo Tang Ming Hong and Wong Chi Him – who went head-to-head in the Hong Kong Squash PSA Challenge Cup – 1st Leg final a few weeks ago – are the No.2 and No.7 seven seeds respectively, and would meet in the semi-finals should they both get that far. 

Wong would likely have to get past No.4 seed Emyr Evans in the quarter-finals to get that far, though, assuming the Welshman sees off the challenge of either wildcard Blake Reinson or Connor Turk in round two. 

Evans’ training teammate Finnlay Withington is the No.6 seed as one of two English players among the seeds, alongside Perry Malik. 

Malik is targeting a first PSA Tour title having finished as the runner-up at the UNDERHILL GEOMATICS Sport Central Open on Canadian soil towards the back end of 2023, his fifth runner-up finish on the PSA Tour. 

You can stay up to date with all the results from The Bee-Clean Edmonton Squash Club Winter Open here, and stay tuned across the Challenger Tour social channels for updates throughout the week.