Schraglage Squash Open: Platinum Experiences Helping Pfister

The Schraglage Squash Open begins in Stuttgart, Germany tomorrow, with both a men’s and women’s draw taking place at Pink Power over the next three days.

The Challenger 5 & 3 level events are being run with regional restrictions due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, allowing entrants from across Europe to participate in the tournament.

England’s World No.90 Robert Downer will be the top seed for the men’s draw, with Czech Republic’s Martin Svec and the German duo of Yannik Omlor and Valentin Rapp.

12 nationalities will be represented in total across both the men’s and women’s, with the likes of Dutch No.1 Roshan Bharos, Belgium’s Joeri Hapers and the Swiss duo of Yannick Wilhelmi and Robin Gadola.

The women’s draw features the German trio of Saskia Beinhard, Katerina Tycova and Aylin Gunsav, who will all be amongst the seeds on home soil.

Frenchwoman Taba Taghavi, Austria’s Jacqueline Peychar and the Swiss trio of Stella Kaufmann, Ambre Allinckx and Nadia Pfister will be the rest of the seeds.

We spoke to Pfister who will be the top seed for the women’s event, earlier this week, ahead of the Schraglage Squash Open.

“I feel like I am training well. I’m trying to work on the things I experienced in my last matches. I believe that a better adapted variety of straight play will make my game more consistent, which I feel is crucial for me at the moment,” Pfister said.

“I always put a lot of pressure on myself, whether if it’s about winning or performing well. I expect that when I train things seriously and invest a lot in it, that I will need to be able to perform it when it’s important. So the main pressure I put on by myself is that I want to be able to make the trained adjustments to my game and believing that this will take me as far as possible in this tournament.

“Of course it wouldn’t look good if I drop out early but there are so many good and very dangerous players in this draw. I don’t think I can ignore my position in the draw but I try to gain as much experience as I can from as many good matches as I can play. I think seeding is one thing but performing in the right moment is another.”

The World No.67 featured at the El Gouna International Squash Open, PSA World Championships and the Allam British Open, and playing in those Platinum level events was a great experience for the Swiss player.

“Just to be part of this event [World Championships] was a great honour for me. I’ve always been hoping for the last few years to get in and now I could finally make it for the first time. I got a bit frustrated how my game ended but you just can’t afford not playing your best game against such high class opponents,” Pfister admitted.

“I take away from it and as well as from the other Platinum events I was allowed to play recently, how I can fight into a game against these top players when sticking to an accurate tactic that puts pressure on and creates chances for me to have a choice of shots etc. I felt happy that we had some good quality rallies but eventually, I wasn’t in control to win enough points, so that needs to change!”

The event takes place from Friday 27 to Sunday 29 August at Pink Power in Stuttgart, where Nadia Pfister will be the top seed for the women’s tournament. Follow the PSA Challenger Tour on Twitter and Facebook for daily updates from the event.

Action from Pink Power will be streamed throughout the week on the PSA Challenger Tour YouTube channel, where you can watch Challenger Tour action, and interviews with rising stars.

Men’s First Round Draw: Schraglage Squash Open
[1] Robert Downer (ENG) v Rene Mijs (NED)
[WC] Dennis Welte (GER) v [9] Toufik Mekhalfi (FRA)
[10] Cedric Kuchen (SUI) v Heiko Schwarzer (GER)
Ondrej Vorlicek (CZE) v [8] Joeri Hapers (BEL)
[6] Robin Gadola (SUI) v [WC] Jan Wipperfurth (GER)
[WC] David Bernet (SUI) v [16] Blessing Muhwati (ZIM)
[15] Nils Roesch (SUI) v Lukas Windischberger (AUT)
David Maier (LIE) v [3] Yannik Omlor (GER)
[4] Valentin Rapp (GER) v Aron Astray (ESP)
[WC] Florian Stoger (GER) v [13] Jakob Dirnberger (AUT)
[12] David Zeman (CZE) v [WC] Simon Wolter (GER)
[WC] Nils Herzberg (GER) v [5] Yannick Wilhelmi (SUI)
[7] Roshan Bharos (NED) v Marc ter Sluis (NED)
[WC] Carsten Schoor (GER) v [14] Tarek Shehata (EGY)
[11] Marek Panacek (CZE) v Jakob Kanel (SUI)
[WC] Nils Schwab (GER) v [2] Martin Svec (CZE)

Women’s First Round Draw: Schraglage Squash Open
[1] Nadia Pfister (SUI) v Klara Møller (DEN)
Megan van Drongelen (NED) v [5] Katerina Tycova (GER)
[6] Aylin Gunsav (GER) v Mai-Ly Nguyen (GER)
Marta Dominguez Fernandez (ESP) v [3] Saskia Beinhard (GER)
[4] Taba Taghavi (FRA) v Naomi Nohar (NED)
Juliette Permentier (NED) v [7] Jacqueline Peychar (AUT)
[8] Stella Kaufmann (SUI) v Anna Karina Moreno Kopp (GER)
Lucie Mährle (GER) v [2] Ambre Allinckx (SUI)