NSW Squash Open Preview: Gadola Aiming To Return To Form

The third and final tournament of the week on the Challenger Tour will be the Alto Group Pennant Hills NSW Squash Open, which will feature both a men’s and women’s Challenger 3 level draw at the Thornleigh Squash and Fitness Centre in Sydney, Australia.

The event follows on from the Costa North Coast Open, which took place in Coffs Harbour last week, in a run of five consecutive weeks where the Challenger Tour features an event on Australian soil.

Hong Kong’s Cheng Nga Ching will be the top seed for the women’s draw, with the Malaysian duo of Yee Xin Yang and Aira Azman, who recently broke into the world’s top 100 for the first time following her maiden victory, in close order in the seedings. Azman will actually be the highest-ranked woman in the draw.

The rest of the seeds will be taken up by Switzerland’s Celine Walser, Japan’s Akari Midorikawa, Malaysia’s Sehveetrraa Kumar, Hong Kong’s Ching Hei Fung and Indian Urwashi Joshi. Three Aussies, in Maggie Goodman, Jennifer Condie and Sze Yu Lee, will be aiming for glory on home soil.

The Swiss pairing of Yannick Wilhelmi and Robin Gadola will lead the way in the men’s Challenger 3 level competition, and will be seeded to meet in the final. We spoke to World No.139 Gadola ahead of the tournament, and he would love to pay his compatriot in the final on Sunday.

“I’m still searching for my form a bit here in Australia. The tournament I played last week didn’t go as well as I’d hoped it would but I got a few good training matches in since then and I’m confident I’ll be able to walk off court happy with my performance in the coming days,” he explained.

“Playing Yannick in the final would be fantastic, of course, we’ve played many times before and it’s always a well-contested and exciting match to play.

“But I’ll be taking one match at a time and won’t be thinking about a potential final during the tournament, as there are many good squash players competing in this event keen on upsetting the seedings. Yannick and I will fully support each other on the way there, however.”

The Swiss player is yet to secure his maiden Tour title, but admits that it would be a special feeling to do so this week. However, he knows that playing good squash is the all-important factor, and that will also help him climb the rankings as he aims to reach th top 100 for the first time.

“I’d love it [to take the title]! Though as I said, I won’t get ahead of myself with such thoughts, as I tend to play better when I’m just ‘in the moment’ on court and not thinking about future finals or titles,” Gadola said.

“I think if I learn to enjoy every moment I have on court, I’ll be able to move further up the rankings.”

Following the Swiss pair in the draw will be India’s Abhay Singh, Filipino No.1 Robert Andrew Garcia, Australian Rhys Dowling and the Hong Kong trio of Harley Lam, Matthew Lai and Chung Yat Long, who round out the top eight seeds.

Dowling will be one of five Australians in the draw for the men’s, being joined by Nicholas Calvert, Damon MacMillan, James Lloyd and Rohan Toole, the latter of which is the wildcard for the competition.

The event takes place from Thursday, August 25 to Sunday, August 28 at the Thornleigh Squash and Fitness Centre in Sydney, Australia, where Switzerland’s Robin Gadola will be the No.2 seed for the men’s event. Follow the PSA Challenger Tour on Twitter and Facebook for daily updates from the event.

Men’s First Round Draw: Alto Group Pennant Hills NSW Squash Open
[1] Yannick Wilhelmi (SUI) v Damon MacMillan (AUS)
[WC] Rohan Toole (AUS) v [7] Matthew Lai (HKG)
[8] Chung Yat Long (HKG) v Wailok To (HKG)
Joel Arscott (NZL) v [3] Abhay Singh (IND)
[4] Robert Andrew Garcia (PHI) v Amir Amirul (MAS)
Manu Paquemar (FRA) v [5] Rhys Dowling (AUS)
[6] Harley Lam (HKG) v Shady El Sherbiny (EGY)
Nicholas Calvert (AUS) v [2] Robin Gadola (SUI)

Women’s First Round Draw: Alto Group Pennant Hills NSW Squash Open
[2] Yee Xin Yang (MAS) – [Bye]
[WC] Maggie Goodman (AUS) v [7] Ching Hei Fung (HKG)
[5] Akari Midorikawa (JPN) v Riffat Khan (PAK)
Noor ul Huda (PAK) v [3] Aira Azman (MAS)
[4] Celine Walser (SUI) v Jennifer Condie (AUS)
Sze Yu Lee (AUS) v [8] Urwashi Joshi (IND)
[6] Sehveetrraa Kumar (MAS) v Aiman Shahbaz (PAK)
[1] Cheng Nga Ching (HKG) – [Bye]