Challenger Tour Weekly Preview: Three Events, Three Continents

Alongside the PSA World Championships Cairo, the Challenger Tour continues this week, with three more tournaments, each being held in a different part of the world.

There were four events on the Tour over the past week, with some surprise winners. Josue Enriquez defeated the top two seeds to win the Esporte Clube Pinheiros Open, while unseeded Andrew Douglas came through the field to take the title at the Life Time Dallas Open.

Israel’s Daniel Poleshchuk claimed his fourth victory in twelve months at the Enjoy Squash Club in Poland, as he won the Polskisquash Enjoy Open Challenger 3, while Lwamba Chileshe got the better of younger brother in Temwa in the final of the Barfoot & Thompson Panmure Open.

This week, there is another event on New Zealand soil, with the Challenger 5 & 3 draws at the Barfoot & Thompson Auckland Open, while there will also be both men and women in action at the NTA Squash Classic in Boston, United States. The third and final event of the week will be the Challenger 20 level QSF 3 in Doha, Qatar.

Here is what is taking place over the next week on the Challenger Tour…

NTA Squash Classic
The first of three events on Tour this week will be the NTA Squash Classic, with the Challenger 10 level tournament featuring both a men’s and women’s event, held at Cross Courts Squash & Fitness in Boston, Massachusetts.

Egypt’s Menna Hamed will be the top seed for the women’s draw, but following her biggest win to date at the Richmond Open, compatriot Hana Moataz will be the highest-ranked player, with the World No.49 as the No.3 seed. England’s Lucy Beecroft and USA’s Marina Stefanoni will make up the rest of the top four seeds.

USA’s Christopher Gordon ill be the top seed for the men’s event, with Canadian No.1 David Baillargeon and the English duo of Sam Todd and Nick Wall, the latter coming off making another final in Dallas, will be inside the top four seeds.

Barfoot & Thompson Auckland Open
The second event in as many weeks to take place in New Zealand will be the Barfoot & Thompson Auckland Open, which will be held from Thursday, May 19 to Sunday, May 22 at the North Shore Squash Club.

After winning at Panmure Squash Club on Sunday, New Zealand’s Lwamba Chileshe will be the top seed in the men’s draw once again this week. Younger brother Temwa will also be in action, along with William Donnelly and Zac Millar. Wee Ming Hock will be the leading non-Kiwi in action as the No.5 seed.

The New Zealand trio of Abbie Palme, Emmar Millar and Ella Lash will be the top three seeds in the women’s event, with the Malaysian trio of Vinikashenie and Vitrikashenie Kulasegaran, and Shasmithaa Nityanandan as their nearest rivals for the title.

QSF 3
The QSF 3 is the final event of the week, and it starts on Friday, May 20 at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex, and almost all of the 24-strong field are currently inside the top 100 of the World Rankings.

Egypt’s Karim El Hammamy will lead the draw, with Mexico’s Leonel Cardenas, Spain’s Bernat Jaume and home favourite Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi as the rest of the top four seeds. In total, there will be 13 countries represented, including Argentina, England, Hungary and Malaysia.

This Week’s Schedule
NTA Squash Classic: Wednesday, May 18 – Saturday, May 21
Barfoot & Thompson Auckland Open: Thursday, May 19 to Sunday, May 22
QSF 3: Friday, May 20 to Tuesday, May 24