Dynam Cup Preview: Tsukue Aiming For Top 50 Ranking

The Dynam Cup SQ-Cube Open is the first of five tournaments this week, and defending champion Ryunosuke Tsukue is aiming to reach the world’s top 50 in the near future.

The Japanese No.1 won this competition in both 2021 and 2022, and is currently the only men’s winner. He will be aiming to go for a three-peat this week, and it would be another boost towards his goal of reaching the world’s top 50.

“I feel more confident now as I’ve been playing some good squash to win against the higher ranked players,” he explained.

“I’m really looking to get into the top 50 by the start of 2024 and to get more chance to play the World Tour events, not just the Challenger Tours. So that  meansI can get to play against even higher ranked players. So right now, I’m pushing myself harder to get the ranking higher.”

Four of Tsukue’s victories have come on home soil, with two of those at this event. He believes that having the home crowd behind him is a big boost, and takes away some of the extra pressure of being the Japanese No.1.

“I think it is because this tournament is hosted in Japan and by my sponsor, so I kind of have the pressure that I have to win,” Tsukue said about the event.

“Then at the same time, I’m happy to play in front of all the people who come and support me so those things give me the good balance to keep me focussed and motivated throughout the whole tournament.

“It’s definitely made me more motivated to play in front of a home crowd and I’m happy that I can show higher level squash to the people in Japan.

“There’s no pressure on me because I’m the Japanese No.1 but there are pressures on me to see whether I can compete against all the players from other countries.”

Tsukue will be the No.2 seed for this week’s Challenger 10 level men’s competition. He will be the highest-ranked player, though, sitting two places above top seed Addeen Idrakie in the world rankings. 

Idrakie will be joined by compatriots Mohammad Syafiq Kamal and Darren Rahul Pragasam as seeded players for the draw. The other four members of the top eight seeds all hail from Hong Kong. Wong Chi Him, Matthew Lai, Harley Lam and Tang Ming Hong, last year’s runner-up, will all be in action.

Tsukue will be one of six Japanese players in action on home soil. He will be joined by Tomotaka Endo, 2021 runner-up Naoki Hayashi, Yujin Ikeda, Kanta Ito and Shota Yasunari, the latter trio all being tournament wildcards.

There will be a new name on the women’s trophy this year in Yokohama. Two-time reigning champion Satomi Watanabe will not feature due to her incredible rise over the last couple of years. The Japanese No.1 is now in the world’s top 20, and will be the world’s leading Asian player heading to Chicago for this season’s PSA World Championships.

Former World No.5 Low Wee Wern will be the top seed for the women’s draw this year at the Dynam Cup. Like the men’s event, there will be a Hong Kong quartet among the top eight seeds. Cheng Nga Ching, Ching Hei Fung, Toby Tse and Wai Sze Wing will all be in action.

Singaporean Leai Lee Zi Fang, Korea’s Mingyeong Heo and the leading Japanese player in the draw, Risa Sugimoto, make up the rest of the seeds. She will be joined by five other home hopes. Ayaka Matsuzawa, Ryoko Kadota, Ayumi Watanabe, Kurumi Takahashi and Chinatsu Matsui will all feature.

The event takes place from Tuesday, May 2 to Saturday, May 6 at the Yokohama Squash Stadium SQ-Cube in the Japanese city of Yokohama, where Ryunosuke Tsukue will be looking for a hat-trick of titles. Follow the PSA Challenger Tour on Twitter and Facebook for daily updates from the event.

Men’s First Round Draw: Dynam Cup PSA SQ-Cube Open
[1] Addeen Idrakie (MAS) – [Bye]
Jan Wipperfurth (GER) v [9/16] Andes Ling (HKG)
[9/16] Tomotaka Endo (JPN) v Duncan Lee (MAS)
[8] Harley Lam (HKG) – [Bye]
[5] Wong Chi Him (HKG) – [Bye]
[WC] Yujin Ikeda (JPN) v [9/16] Chung Yat Long (HKG)
[9/16] Bryan Lim Tze Kang (MAS) v Naoki Hayashi (JPN)
[4] Mohammad Syafiq Kamal (MAS) – [Bye]
[3] Tang Ming Hong (HKG) – [Bye]
Dylan Molinaro (AUS) v [9/16] Ong Sai Hung (MAS)
[9/16] Ho Ka Hei (HKG) v [WC] Shota Yasunari (JPN)
[7] Matthew Lai (HKG) – [Bye]
[6] Darren Rahul Pragasam (MAS) – [Bye]
[WC] Kanta Ito (JPN) v [9/16] Rahul Baitha (IND)
[9/16] Lam Shing Fung (HKG) v Wailok To (HKG)
[2] Ryunosuke Tsukue (JPN) – [Bye]

Women’s First Round Draw: Dynam Cup PSA SQ-Cube Open
[1] Low Wee Wern (MAS) – [Bye]
[WC] Chinatsu Matsui (JPN) v [9/16] Dong ju Song (KOR)
[9/16] Yura Choe (KOR) – [Bye]
[6] Wai Sze Wing (HKG) – [Bye]
[5] Toby Tse (HKG) – [Bye]
[WC] Kurumi Takahashi (JPN) v [9/16] Ain Jun (KOR)
[9/16] Shin Yujin (KOR) v Ha Eun Kim (KOR)
[3] Ching Hei Fung (HKG) – [Bye]
[4] Leia Lee Zi Fang (SGP) – [Bye]
Ryoko Kadota (JPN) v [9/16] Wing Hei Jannis Lam (HKG)
[9/16] Jihyun Lee (KOR) v [WC] Ayumi Watanabe (JPN)
[8] Mingyeong Heo (KOR) – [Bye]
[7] Risa Sugimoto (JPN) – [Bye]
Gigi Yeung (MAC) v [9/16] Liu Kwai Chi (MAC)
[9/16] Ayaka Matsuzawa (JPN) v Sang Eun Park (KOR)
[2] Cheng Nga Ching (HKG) – [Bye]