Czech Open Preview: Kandra Excited To Visit Czech Republic Again

The Czech Open begins on Thursday afternoon at the Centrum Viktoria in Brno with both a men’s and women’s event taking place.

Swiss No.1 Nicolas Mueller will be the top seed for the men’s Challenger 30 level competition. His nearest competitor will be German No.1 Raphael Kandra, and we spoke to the left-hander prior to the event starting.

“I am very excited to come back to Czech Republic. I have a lot of great junior memories from way back.” Kandra admitted.

“It’s nice to drive to PSA tournaments. And to stop by in Prague to train with Greg Gaultier and all the other top players there is a perfect scenario to get ready for a PSA tournament.”

Kandras, who has been inside the top 16 in the World Rankings before, knows that he cannot focus on a possible meeting with Mueller in the final. The German is also aiming to move back into the world’s top 16 once again.

“To be honest, I don’t really put attention to the draw in the later stage. It’s important for me to concentrate and focus every match. And the draw is damn hard,” he explained.

So I need to give myself a proper push. Of course it would be nice to stay in the final with Niki [Mueller], but as I said before, its a long way to get there!

“I still fight for a spot inside the top 15 for a while. I have been there after my British Open success but been struggling ever since to come back to that position. My Squash is probably about the same level – just the competitors are getting stronger and stronger.”

The Egyptian duo of Omar Mosaad and Karim El Hammamy, along with England’s George Parker and Nathan Lake, will also be inside the top eight seeds for the competition.

Dutch No.1 Tessa ter Sluis will be the top seed for the women’s Challenger 3 level competition, which will see England’s Torrie Malik, Scotland’s Alison Thomson and Ukrainian Anastasiia Kostiukova making up the rest of the top four seeds.

The event takes place from Thursday, November 3 to Monday, November 7 at the Centrum Viktoria in Brno. Follow the PSA Challenger Tour on Twitter and Facebook for daily updates from the event.

Action from Brno will be streamed throughout the week on the club’s YouTube channel, where you will be able to watch all the action from Court 1.

Men’s First Round Draw: Czech Open
[1] Nicolas Mueller (SUI) – [Bye]
Daniel Mekbib (CZE) v [9/16] Lucas Serme (FRA)
[9/16] Bernat Jaume (ESP) v Martin Svec (CZE)
[5] George Parker (ENG) – [Bye]
[6] Cesar Salazar (MEX) – [Bye]
[WC] Dariusz Filipowski (POL) v [9/16] Sam Todd (ENG)
[9/16] Rui Soares (POR) v Ben Coleman (ENG)
[4] Karim El Hammamy (EGY) – [Bye]
[3] Omar Mosaad (EGY) – [Bye]
Yannick Wilhelmi (SUI) v [9/16] Curtis Malik (ENG)
[9/16] Ronald Palomino (COL) v [WC] Jakub Solnicky (CZE)
[8] Dimitri Steinmann (SUI) – [Bye]
[7] Nathan Lake (ENG) – [Bye]
Emyr Evans (WAL) v [9/16] Nick Wall (ENG)
[9/16] Juan Camilo Vargas (COL) v Ivan Perez (ESP)
[2] Raphael Kandra (GER) – [Bye]

Women’s First Round Draw: Czech Open
[1] Tessa ter Sluis (NED) bt Klara Kohlerova (SVK)
Alina Poessl (SUI) v [8] Ellie Jones (SCO)
[6] Juliette Permentier (NED) v Suzanne Peters (NED)
[WC] Karolina Sramkova (CZE) v [4] Anastasiia Kostiukova (UKR)
[3] Alison Thomson (SCO) v Sofie Hausknotsova (CZE)
Milena Velychko (UKR) v [5] Tamara Holzbauerova (CZE)
[7] Teresa Siroka (CZE) v Ona Blanco (ESP)
Andrea Fjellgaard (NOR) v [2] Torrie Malik (ENG)