The Hong Kong Football Club Open 2023: Preview & How To Watch Live

The Hong Kong Football Club Open 2023 gets under way tomorrow, with 24 men and women looking to get their hands on silverware at the PSA Bronze-level event in Hong Kong. 

Women’s World No.6 Georgina Kennedy and men’s World No.16 Mohamed ElSherbini top the two draws. 

The opening three rounds of the tournament – which is hosted at the Hong Kong Football Club and takes place between November 21-25 – will be shown on the PSA’s Live Streaming YouTube channel, with the semi-finals and finals available to watch live on SQUASHTV.

In the women’s draw, Kennedy is sure to arrive full of confidence following her impressive run to the VITAGEN Singapore Squash Open semi-finals. The England No.1 enjoyed strong wins over French No.1 Melissa Alves and Egypt’s Salma Hany before losing out to eventual champion Nele Gilis in a marathon five-game battle in the last four.

Kennedy will play one of Nadia Pfister or Aira Azman in her opening match, before a potential quarter-final against Tomato Ho and semi-final versus Egypt’s teenage superstar Amina Orfi, if the event were to go to seeding. 

Elsewhere, No.7 seed Sivasangari Subramaniam and No.3 seed Sabrina Sobhy could be set for a blockbuster quarter-final meeting if both were to get through their respective second-round matches. Subramaniam will hope to continue her fine performances from the last few weeks, which saw her defeat Nour El Tayeb at the Singapore Open and subsequently reach her first-ever quarter-final at a Gold event.

The Malaysian’s conqueror in the last eight in Singapore, Sarah-Jane Perry, is ranked as the No.2 seed in Hong Kong, and will get her account underway against either Saskia Beinhard or Cheng Nga Ching Sara.

Meanwhile, in the men’s event, Joel Makin’s withdrawal due to injury has subsequently seen Mohamed ElSherbini rise to No.1 seed. The Egyptian will start his tournament against one of Todd Harrity or Yassin Elshafei before a potential last-eight clash with Auguste Dussourd. 

No.2 seed Aly Abou Eleinen, who is currently at a career-high ranking of World No.17, is seeded on the top half of the draw, with a potential quarter-final clash against QSF 4 champion Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi and a semi-final bout with Iker Pajares Bernabeu awaiting if the event were to go to seeding. 

Meanwhile, there will be a number of Hong Kong players looking to draw upon the home support and go far in the event, with Tsz Kwan Lau one of three players in the men’s draw, and No.6 seed Tomato Ho and Ka Yi Lee two of the standout names from the five home players competing in the women’s draw. 

For more information on the Hong Kong Football Club Open 2023, visit the PSA website or follow the PSA on  X, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.