Coll & King To Headline New Zealand Open 2023

New Zealand No.1s Paul Coll and Joelle King will headline the upcoming New Zealand Open, PSA World Tour Silver event between December 5-10 at Tauranga’s Mercury Arena, with action available to watch live on SQUASHTV.

World No.4 Coll, who recently became the first New Zealand man in 37 years to win the U.S. Open, is the top seed for the Robertson Lodges New Zealand Men’s Open, and will kick off his campaign against one of Velavan Senthilkumar or America’s Shahjahan Khan, after receiving a bye in the first round.

“It’s a pretty stacked field,” said Coll.

“It’s awesome to get to face that competition at home and there’s going to be some great matches and some really aggressive squash on display.”

From there, Coll – who reached the final last year – is seeded to face Frenchman Auguste Dussourd in the quarter-finals before a potential last-four bout against World No.11 Victor Crouin.

Elsewhere, in the bottom half of the men’s draw, No.2 seed Marwan ElShorbagy and Grasshopper Cup runner-up Joel Makin will be looking to make the latter stages of the event. ElShorbagy is set to start off his title challenge against one of Canada’s David Baillargeon or Martin Svec, while Makin is seeded to square off against Rory Stewart in his opening match.

In the women’s Barfoot & Thompson New Zealand Open, defending champion King will also receive a first-round bye before taking on one of England’s Alicia Mead or Malaysia’s Low Wee Wern in round two. The World No.4 is then seeded to face England’s Lucy Beecroft in the last eight before a potential semi-final clash against Qatar Classic semi-finalist Tinne Gilis.

“It’s great to have such a quality field for an event in our backyard,” said King.

“With squash just announced for the 2028 Olympics, everyone’s really excited and I have no doubt that some of these athletes will be Olympians, so I’d really encourage the community to come and enjoy the action, it’s going to be world-class.”

Meanwhile, No.2 seed Amanda Sobhy finds herself in the same quarter as last year’s runner-up Tesni Evans, while Belgium’s Nele Gilis and Tomato Ho are also found in this bottom half of the draw. World No.5 Sobhy, a three time semi-finalist and runner-up already this season, is set to face one of Danielle Letourneau or Saskia Beinhard in her opening match.

The other Kiwi players in the main draw are wildcards Kaitlyn Watts and Elijah Thomas, who have taken the wildcard spots and square off against Malak Khafagy and Scotland’s Rory Stewart, respectively.

For more information on the New Zealand Open 2023, visit the PSA World Tour website or follow the PSA on X, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.

Robertson Lodges New Zealand Men’s Open 2023

[1] Paul Coll (NZL) [bye] 

Velavan Senthilkumar (IND) v [9/16] Shahjahan Khan (USA)

[9/16] Timothy Brownell (USA) v Ryunosuke Tsukue (JPN)

[7] Auguste Dussourd (FRA) [bye] 

[6] Saurav Ghosal (IND) [bye] 

Simon Herbert (FRA) v [9/16] Ramit Tandon (IND)

[9/16] Raphael Kandra (GER) v Addeen Idrakie (MAS) 

[4] Victor Crouin (FRA) [bye]

[3] Joel Makin [bye]

[WC] Elijah Thomas (NZL) v [9/16] Rory Stewart (SCO)

[9/16] Gregoire Marche (FRA) v Abhay Singh (IND)

[5] Baptiste Masotti (FRA) [bye]

[8] Adrian Waller (ENG) [bye]

Andrew Douglas (USA) v [9/16] Patrick Rooney (ENG) 

[9/16] David Baillargeon (CAN) v Martin Svec (CZE)

[2] Marwan ElShorbagy (ENG) [bye]

Barfoot & Thompson New Zealand Open 2023

[1] Joelle King (NZL) [bye]

Alicia Mead (ENG) v [9/16] Low Wee Wern (MAS) 

[9/16] Aira Azman (MAS) v Akanksha Salunkhe (IND)

[7] Lucy Beecroft (ENG) [bye]

[6] Aifa Azman (MAS) [bye]

Nadia Pfister (SUI) v [9/16] Tsz-Wing Tong (HKG)

[9/16] Marie Stephan (FRA) Ainaa Amani (MAS)

[4] Tinne Gilis (BEL) [bye]

[3] Nele Gilis (BEL) [bye] 

Cheng Nga Ching (HKG) v [9/16] Ka Yi Lee (HKG)

[9/16] Malak Khafagy (EGY) v [WC] Kaitlyn Watts (NZL)

[8] Tomato Ho (HKG) [bye] 

[5] Tesni Evans (WAL) [bye]

Jessica Turnbull (AUS) v [9/16] Marina Stefanoni (USA)

[9/16] Danielle Letourneau (CAN) v Saskia Beinhard (GER)

[2] Amanda Sobhy (USA) [bye]