Zein and Lau Named PSA Challenger Tour Players of the Month for September

Following their performances in September, Egypt’s Zeina Zein and Hong Kong’s Tsz Kwan Lau have been named the PSA Challenger Tour Players of the Month.

At the age of just 17, Zein is one of the youngest players inside the world’s top 100. The Egyptian secured her first win on Tour earlier in the summer, and she doubled down with her biggest victory to date this month.

She went into the Challenger 20 level Nash Cup as one of the unseeded players, and in the second round, the young Egyptian put down a statement of intent. She got the better of top seed Ineta Mackevica to move through to the quarter finals of the competition.

Wins came against Spain’s Marta Dominguez Fernandez, England’s Lucy Beecroft and Scotland’s Georgia Adderley, all seeded for the event, as Zein claimed her second Tour title, and the biggest of her career. Thanks to the win, the 17-year-old is now the World No.67, her highest ever World Ranking to date.

Hong Kong’s Tsz Kwan Lau has taken the men’s award for PSA Challenger Tour Player of the Month, thanks to becoming the Tour’s first male multiple-winner of the new campaign.

The 26-year-old featured twice on the Challenger Tour in September, and he went unbeaten through those events, coming home with the Volkswagen Bega Open and City of Devonport Tasmanian Open titles.

Lau was the No.2 seed for the Challenger 10 level victory in Bega, and dropped just a single game en route to the victory, beating Switzerland’s Robin Gadola, compatriot Chi Him Wong, Malaysia’s Mohammad Syafiq Kamal and Australian Rex Hedrick.

He was then also the No.2 seed in Devonport, and once again came through to win the tournament, his second Challenger 10 win of the campaign. Again, just a single game was dropped, and he beat Malaysia’s No.3 seed Addeen Idrakie in the final.

Thanks to his two victories in the month of September, Lau hit a career-high of World No.59. He is also now the Hong Kong No.2, behind only countryman Henry Leung, who sits nine places above him in the World Rankings right now.

Find out more about the PSA Challenger Tour and players of the month