Novum Energy Texas Open Preview: Evans Aiming To Break Title Duck

The Novum Energy Texas Open will be starting this week, from Wednesday 20 to Sunday 24 October. The event is a men’s Challenger 10 and will take place at The Downtown Club in Houston.

A relatively young field of players includes six home grown talents looking to make their way up the PSA rankings on home soil. The No.1 seed for the event is Asim Khan from Pakistan. Khan managed to earn a spot in the PSA World Championships in July earlier this year for his first appearance on the PSA’s biggest stage.

Strong competition will come from British trio England’s Sam Todd, Scotland’s Rory Stewart and Welshman Emyr Evans. All three have moved into the world’s top 100 this year and are starting to make their marks on the Challenger Tour scene.

Evans is especially happy with breaking into the top 100 in the World Rankings and expressed how much confidence it gives him heading into this event.

“It gives me a lot of confidence for this week, I’m wanting to keep the performances going really, there are areas I’ve been trying to adjust but overall, it comes down to confidence and backing yourself against the players you’re facing,” the Welshman said.

Evans has reached six PSA finals but hasn’t yet managed to convert one into a win. His attention is more on good performances and just being grateful for international tournaments being back on the calendar.

“It’s something that doesn’t really faze me, losing six finals. Yes, of course I want to get that first title, but I think sometimes people look too deeply into that kind of stuff,” he admitted.

“As long as I can keep backing up good performances, competing with higher ranked players and finding that I’m becoming a better squash player, then that’s what’s important to me.

“I’ve really enjoyed getting back overseas since COVID. I think these are the trips and events players miss. This is my second overseas trip; I went to Washington in the summer with a bubble and this time in Texas there’s no bubble. It just feels normal again which is great.”

The event takes place from Wednesday 20 to Sunday 24 October at the Downtown Club in Texas. Follow the PSA Challenger Tour on Twitter and Facebook for daily updates from the event.

First Round Draw: Novum Energy Texas Open
[2] Spencer Lovejoy (USA) – [Bye]
[WC] Arhan Chandra (USA) v [9/16] Timothy Brownell (USA)
[9/16] Jean-Pierre Brits (RSA) v Jamie Ruggiero (USA)
[8] Sean Conroy (IRL) – [Bye]
[7] Peter Creed (WAL) – [Bye]
Chris Fuller (ENG) v [9/16] Allan Nunez (MEX)
[9/16] Aadit Zaveri (IND) v Haidar Jafry (USA)
[3] Sam Todd (ENG) – [Bye]
[4] Rory Stewart (SCO) – [Bye]
[WC] Alex Mehnert (USA) v [9/16] Tom Walsh (ENG)
[9/16] Ahsan Ayaz (PAK) v Miled Zarazua (MEX)
[5] Emyr Evans (WAL) – [Bye]
[6] Lwamba Chileshe (NZL) – [Bye]
[WC] Alejandro Reyes (MEX) v [9/16] Abdul Malik Khan (PAK)
[9/16] Karim Elbarbary (EGY) v James Wyatt (ENG)
[1] Asim Khan (PAK) – [Bye]