St Louis Open: Tournament Preview

The second of four events taking place on the PSA Challenger Tour this week will be the St Louis Open presented by Mosby Building Arts, which will take place from Tuesday, September 20 to Saturday, September 24 at the Missouri Athletic Club.

The Challenger 10 level men’s tournament will feature a 24-strong draw, seven of whom currently occupy places in the world’s top 100. Scotland’s Rory Stewart and England’s Charlie Lee, who both featured on the glass court at the Open de France de Squash last week, will be the top two seeds for the competition.

Christopher Gordon will be the leading American in the draw, and he will be the No.3 seed for the event, with England’s Curtis Malik, who comes into the tournament off the back of making the Nash Cup final in Canada on Sunday, rounding out the top four seeds.

Four more nationalities fill out the rest of the top eight seeds for the Challenger 10 level tournament, with the Czech Republic’s Daniel Mekbib, Egypt’s Seif Shenawy, Pakistan’s Noor Zaman and Brazilian No.1 Guilherme Melo all in action.

Canada, Colombia and Nigeria will also be represented in the competition, while the event will see three wildcards. England’s Alex Ingham and Nathan Mead, along with the USA’s Henry Byrne, will be aiming to cause upsets in the opening round on Tuesday.

The event takes place from Tuesday, September 20 to Saturday, September 24 at the Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis, where Scotland’s Rory Stewart is the top seed for the tournament. Follow the PSA Challenger Tour on Twitter and Facebook for daily updates from the event.

First Round Draw: St Louis Open presented by Mosby Building Arts
[1] Rory Stewart (SCO) – [Bye]
Karim Elbarbary (EGY) v [9/16] Mark Broekman (ENG)
[9/16] Diego Gobbi (BRA) v Jamie Ruggiero (USA)
[7] Noor Zaman (PAK) – [Bye]
[6] Seif Shenawy (EGY) – [Bye]
Haadis Amin (USA) v [9/16] Aly Hussein (EGY)
[9/16] Babatunde Ajagbe (NGR) v [WC] Nathan Mead (ENG)
[3] Christopher Gordon (USA) – [Bye]
[4] Curtis Malik (ENG) – [Bye]
Karamatullah Khan (PAK) v [9/16] Edgar Ramirez Bautista (COL)
[9/16] Nasir Iqbal (PAK) v [WC] Alex Ingham (ENG)
[8] Guilherme Melo (BRA) – [Bye]
[5] Daniel Mekbib (CZE) – [Bye]
Chris Fuller (ENG) v [9/16] Cory McCartney (CAN)
[9/16] Muhammad Ashab Irfan (PAK) v [WC] Henry Byrne (USA)
[2] Charlie Lee (ENG) – [Bye]