Coleman Heads Stortford Classic Lineup

#PSAWorldTour

World No.51 Ben Coleman will be the title favourite when the Flo.Money Stortford Classic, PSA M10 tournament begins on Wednesday May 18 as he bids to claim his eighth PSA World Tour crown.

The 25-year-old Englishman began 2016 in fine fettle, winning the Holtrand Open in January, but has only made it past the quarter-final in one of his subsequent seven PSA World Tour events.

The caveat though is that a number of those appearances came at high-level tournaments, where he lost out to the likes of German No.1 Simon Rösner and former World No.5 Borja Golan, and that experience could stand him in good stead as he looks to triumph on home soil.

Coleman, who also won the Wasatch Funds Salt Lake City Open earlier this season, gets his event off to a start against Welshman Joel Makin and could face a fellow Englishman in the last eight, with Chris Fuller or Joe Green set to meet Coleman in the quarter-final if he beats Makin.

London-based Charles Sharpes is also in action and is seeded to meet his compatriot, Coleman, in the final. The World No.53’s last PSA World Tour appearance came during last week’s IG Open de Paris, where he was unfortunate to lose out to New Zealand’s Paul Coll in a dramatic five-game thriller.

Sharpes is yet to lift silverware on the PSA World Tour this season, but will aim to break an 11-month barren streak in Bishop’s Stortford. Australia’s Matthew Hopkin lies between Sharpes and a quarter-final berth.

The up-and-coming Richie Fallows is another of the title contenders as he looks to bounce back from three successive first round exits. Fallows, 20, last won a PSA World Tour event in 2014 but has racked up a number of semi-final finishes in the intervening years.

He is seeded to at least make it to that stage this time around, but will have his eyes set on greater things as he opens up his event against wildcard Nick Mulvey.

World No.79 Peter Creed is a dark horse for the title and is looking to claim his first PSA World Tour crown since the summer, when he triumphed at the British Virgin Islands Open Squash Championships. The Welshman, who trained under the tutelage of the legendary Jonah Barrington, has forged a reputation as an entertaining showman and will certainly be one to watch this week. He will take on England’s Michael Harris, who recently reached the final of the Jersey Squash Classic, in round one.

Main Draw: PSA M10, Flo.Money Stortford Classic, Bishop’s Stortford, England
[1] Ben Coleman (ENG) v Joel Makin (WAL)
[Q] Joe Green (ENG) v [7] Chris Fuller (ENG)
[5] Jaymie Haycocks (ENG) v [Q] Lewis Walters (JAM)
[Q] Michael Harris (ENG) v [4] Peter Creed (WAL)
[3] Richie Fallows (ENG) v [WC] Nick Mulvey (ENG)
Ashley Davies (ENG) v [6] Arthur Gaskin (IRL)
[8] Carlos Cornes Ribadas (ESP) v [Q] Rui Soares (POR)
Matthew Hopkin (AUS) v [2] Charles Sharpes (ENG)