Colin Payne Kent Open Preview: Taylor Aiming For Maiden Win

The Colin Payne Kent Open sponsored by 501 Entertainment kicks off on Wednesday at the Tunbridge Wells Squash Club, with both a men’s and women’s draw at the Challenger 3 level tournament.

The event, which will feature a 16-strong draw on both sides, will take place from Wednesday 15 to Saturday 18 December, and will be the last tournament on British soil in 2021.

The event is being run in honour of former English Masters champion Colin Payne, who reached the top 50 in the world in the early 1990s. He passed away five years ago, having won the British Over-50s Championship earlier in 2016.

Siblings Curtis and Torrie Malik will be the top seeds for the tournament, with the latter having recently broke inside the top 100 in the World Rankings for the first time in her career.

She will face competition from compatriots Kace Bartley, Polly Clark and Kiera Marshall, while Egypt’s Rana Ismail and Japan’s Satomi Watanabe are also amongst the top four seeds for the tournament.

Curtis Malik comes into this Challenger 3 level tournament already having a title to his name this month, after he claimed the spoils at the Commercial Water Solutions Grange Challenger in Edinburgh.

Malik will be joined fellow countrymen Joshua Masters, Anthony Royal and younger brother Perry as the top four seeds for the men’s tournament, with Wales’ Owain Taylor as the sole non-Englishman inside the top eight of the draw.

We spoke to the Welshman prior to the tournament, and he admitted that he has struggled with injuries throughout 2021, but that he believes that he is starting to find his top form once again.

“After spending most of 2021 struggling with injury, I think I am just starting to regain match fitness and sharpness as my last couple of tournament matches have shown,” the Welshman said.

“I’m working on a few different things and have had to change some elements of my game recently, so I’m enjoying the process of figuring out which direction to take my squash with the help of my coaches. I’m looking forward to a strong training block in the start of the new year to get back to where I was pre injury and hopefully beyond.

“Looking at the results I’ve had, I think it’s [winning] definitely something within reach in the near future. At the moment I’m not focussing on titles though, instead just improving my game as much as possible and I think the titles and results will follow eventually. Obviously I wouldn’t say no to a win soon though!”

Taylor came close to his first win on Tour earlier this year at the David Lloyd Men’s Open in Purley, where he lost out in the final to James Peach, but he believes that he can beat any in this week’s draw in Tunbridge Wells.

“To be honest, I think at this level in the tour there’s three or four players in each draw who could win on their day. I’ve beaten all the top seeds in the draw at least once this year already so I know I’m capable of delivering a winning performance but we will have to see what happens,” he explained.

“I’m seeded to play Perry [Malik] in the second round which will be a tough match if our one last week was anything to go by. But I’m just taking each match as it comes and trying to play my best squash.”

Although the Welshman currently sits outside the top 200 in the World Rankings, he has no doubts that he can get back to his highest position of World No.173 and beyond in the coming months.

“I feel like I’m capable of playing well above my ranking at times, so I don’t doubt that I will surpass 173 at some point in the near future, but again I feel like if i keep focussing on improving my squash then the ranking and results will follow.”

The event takes place from Wednesday 15 to Saturday 18 December at the Tunbridge Wells Squash Club in England. Follow the PSA Challenger Tour on Twitter and Facebook for daily updates from the event.

Men’s First Round Draw: The Colin Payne Kent Open Sponsored by 501 Entertainment
[1] Curtis Malik (ENG) v [WC] Noah Meredith (ENG)
Aaron Allpress (ENG) v [5] Hasnaat Farooqi (ENG)
[6] Owain Taylor (WAL) v Nick Ratnarajah (ENG)
Jordan Warne (ENG) v [4] Perry Malik (ENG)
[3] Anthony Rogal (ENG) v Finnlay Withington (ENG)
Josh Attwell (ENG) v [8] Jack Mitterer (ENG)
[7] James Peach (ENG) v Alvaro Martin (ESP)
Phil nightingale (ENG) v [2] Joshua Masters (ENG)

Women’s First Round Draw: The Colin Payne Kent Open Sponsored by 501 Entertainment
[1] Torrie Malik (ENG) – [Bye]
Lara Newton (ENG) v [7] Catherine Holland (SCO)
[6] Sofia Aveiro Pita (POR) v Emma Keane (BER)
[3] Rana Ismail (EGY) – [Bye]
[4] Satomi Watanabe (JPN) – [Bye]
Olivia Besant (RUS) v [5] Polly Clark (ENG)
[8] Isabel McCullough (ENG) v Amy Royle (ENG)
[2] Kace Bartley (ENG) – [Bye]