L’International des Mirabelles Preview: Romba Feeling Good After Lengthy Break

The first of two events on the Challenger Tour this week will be L’International des Mirabelles, which will take place from Thursday, September 29 to Sunday, October 2 at Squash Le Reve in Nancy, France.

The Challenger 3 level tournament will feature both a men’s and women’s draw over the four days of action in Nancy, with mainly European draws across both events.

Germany’s Yannik Omlor will be the top seed for the men’s Challenger 3 level competition, and he will be joined by compatriot Valentin Rapp, England’s Robert Downer and new Irish No.1 Sam Buckley among the top four seeds. Another German, in Tobias Weggen, will also be seeded. He will be joined by Welshman Elliott Morris Devred, Frenchman Edwin Clain and Switzerland’s Nils Roesch.

Clain will be just one of two French men in the draw, with Paul Gonzalez also in action this week in Nancy. The only non-European in the competition will be Zimbabwean No.1 Blessing Muhwati, who will be joined by a whole host of Englishman in being unseeded. Jordan Warne, Hasnaat Farooqi, Noah Meredith, Jack Mitterer and Aaron Allpress will all be in action this week.

Spaniard Sofia Mateos will be the leading player in the women’s draw, with Scotland’s Katriona Allen as her nearest competitors. Denmark’s Klara Moller and Englishwoman Katie Wells make up the rest fo the top four seeds for the tournament.

Two more English women, in Kiera Marshall and Asia Harris, along with Dane Caroline Lyng, and Austrian No.1 Jacqueline Peychar, will also be seeded for the competition. There will be four Frenchwoman in action, with Ninon Lemarchand, Ella Galova, Elise Romba and Ana Munos taking to the court on home soil.

We spoke to Romba ahead of the tournament, with the Frenchwoman having recently featured in her home open, the PSA World Tour Bronze level Open de France de Squash. She admits that the experience of playing with some of the best in the world will push her on in her career.

“Obviously, the experience was amazing! The Open de France pushed me to work hard to be able to play more tournaments like this one,” she admitted.

“For sure, seeing some of the best players in the world gave me inspirations and show me what I’m missing in my game, but also the will to be part of one of them. 

“In 2021, I had a break of squash for almost nine months. I just stopped playing on the PSA Tour for seven months. I choose to finish my studies and then to see if I’d would be hungry to be back on tour.

“Since July I started to train hard again and to change some things to improve my game. Actually I’m playing good squash, I’m feeling good on court. Now I just have to transfer what I do in training to the game.”

Having featured on home soil in Nantes a couple of weeks ago, Romba now comes to Nancy as one of four French women playing on home soil. She is looking forward to being one of the home favourites once again.

“It’s always better when you play in your country. Even if Nancy is not my main club, the people are cheering for the local player so it gives an extra motivation. To play in France it’s also the chance to have my family here to support me,” she said.

Romba is currently the World No.105 following her performance at the Open de France de Squash, and she is narrowing in her focus on breaking into the top 100 for the first time in her career.

“My goal since July is to break the top 100 as quickly as possible. I knew I had the potential to break the top 100,” the Frenchwoman explained.

“But it will mean so much for me to achieve my goal, so I’d be very happy of myself and I’d be hungry to keep moving up in the ranking!”

The event takes place from Thursday, September 29 to Sunday, October 2 at the Squash Le Reve in Nancy, France, where Elise Romba will be one of several home hopes at the tournament. Follow the PSA Challenger Tour on Twitter and Facebook for daily updates from the event.

Men’s First Round Draw: L’International des Mirabelles
[1] Yannik Omlor (GER) v Paul Gonzalez (FRA)
Aaron Allpress (ENG) v [8] Tobias Weggen (GER)
[6] Edwin Clain (FRA) v Blessing Muhwati (ZIM)
Jack Mitterer (ENG) v [3] Valentin Rapp (GER)
[4] Sam Buckley (IRL) v Noah Meredith (ENG)
Hasnaat Farooqi (ENG) v [7] Nils Roesch (SUI)
[5] Elliott Morris Devred (WAL) v Jordan Warne (ENG)
Lowie Delbeke (BEL) v [2] Robert Downer (ENG)

Women’s First Round Draw: L’International des Mirabelles
[1] Sofia Mateos (ESP) v Ana Munos (FRA)
Elise Romba (FRA) v Jacqueline Peychar (AUT)
[6] Asia Harris (ENG) v Ella Galova (FRA)
Ellie Jones (SCO) v [3] Klara Moller (DEN)
[4] Katie Wells (ENG) v Polly Clark (ENG)
Tamara Holzbauerova (CZE) v [7] Caroline Lyng (DEN)
[8] Kiera Marshall (ENG) v Reserve
Ninon Lemarchand (FRA) v [2] Katriona Allen (SCO)