Vargas and Watanabe Named PSA Challenger Tour Players Of The Month

Colombia’s Juan Camilo Vargas and Japan’s Satomi Watanabe have been named as PSA Challenger Tour Players Of The Month for May.

Vargas impressively claimed the Bermuda Open 2022 (a World Championship Qualification event) and therefore earned a place in the biggest event on the PSA calendar. Vargas survived two five-set battles with Canada’s David Baillargeon and Scotland’s Rory Stewart on route to capturing the Challenger 10 title.

Vargas also claimed a surprise round one win in the PSA World Championships as he beat USA’s Shahjahan Khan to claim a place in round two. These two tournaments contributed to the Colombian climbing 17 places to reach his highest ranking to date of World No.66.

Japan’s Watanabe opened the month in perfect style by winning the Qscan Sandgate Open 2022 without dropping a single game, beating World No.28 Aifa Azman in just 22 minutes in the final.

Due to her University of Birmingham Open victory, Watanabe earned herself a spot in the PSA World Championships in Cairo. The Japanese No.1 scored a huge upset in round one, taking out England No.3 Lucy Turmel in a 73-minute battle. She then took the opening game against No.3 seed Hania El Hammamy before running out of steam and bowing out in four games.

Upon returning to Japan, Watanabe picked up another title as she lifted the Dynam Cup PSA SQ-Cube Open 2022 trophy in Yokohama. This was another tournament in which she didn’t drop a single game, beating Hong Kong’s No.1 seed Cheng Nga Ching in the final.