Shepparton International Preview: Jadishkumar Looking Towards Top 100

The Australian swing continues on the PSA Challenger Tour, with the City of Greater Shepparton International taking place at the Shepparton Squash Centre from Thursday, July 7 to Sunday, July 10.

The Challenger 3 level tournament will feature both a men’s and women’s event over the next four days, with both competitions featuring 16 players aiming for glory. Australia’s Sarah Cardwell will lead the women’s draw, with Japan’s Akari Midorikawa will be the No.2 seed, and aiming to win in back-to-back weeks after a victory at the City of Greater Bendigo International.

The Japanese No.2 will face off against the unseeded Mingyeong Heo in the opening round, just four days after the pair met in the final in Bendigo, where Midorikawa took a 3-1 victory. Hong Kong’s Toby Tse and Wai Sze Wing make up the rest of the top four seeds, with England’s Tayla Mounter and Malaysia’s Yasshmita Jadishkumar also among those seeded for the tournament. We spoke to the young Malaysian prior to the event.

“I think I’m currently playing good, I would say I’m getting my confidence back after my previous injuries, so I’m excited to see how far I can go in this tournament,”

“I think for me, I’m doing better than I expected to do. It is really exciting because I get to play with new and different players in every tournament and I get to travel everywhere around the world. I’ve beaten a couple of players in the top 100 so that is good and I would like to achieve more and start winning titles. 

Jadishkumar is already a member of the world’s top 200, and she believes that she can continue to rise, especially with the way she is playing right now.

“Honestly I have no expectations. If I win the first round, that would be really good. In the second round, I will be playing against the first seed, so no pressure on me, I will just go in and have fun. In the PSA I think everyone is capable of the game, everyone is good so I can never be too confident,” she explained.

“Being World No.200 within one year of playing, or lesser is such a big achievement for me, especially after having multiple surgeries and injuries.

“I never though I would go this far in such a short period of time, but now that I’m getting back there, I’m getting more confident and I know that I’m capable of more so if I continue to play like this, I think top 150 or 100 is doable, fingers crossed.”

Malaysia’s Hafiz Zhafri will be the top seed for the men’s event, with Egypt’s Shady El Sherbiny and Frenchman Laouenan Loaec as the nearest challengers. Damon Macmillan will be the highest-ranked home hope for the competition, and he will be joined by James Lloyd, Benjamin Ratcliffe, Dylan Molinaro, Jamie Pattison, Cameron Darton, Tate Zak Norris and wildcard Corben White.

The event takes place from Thursday, July 7 to Sunday, July 10 at the Shepparton Squash Centre in Victoria, Australia. Follow the PSA Challenger Tour on *Twitter* and *Facebook* for daily updates from the event.

Men’s First Round Draw: City of Greater Shepparton International
[2] Shady El Sherbiny (EGY) v Benjamin Ratcliffe (AUS)
[WC] Corben White (AUS) v [8] Lam Shing Fung (HKG)
[6] Ho Ka Hei (HKG) v Tate Zak Norris (AUS)
Cameron Darton (AUS) v [3] Laouenan Loaec (FRA)
[4] Damon Macmillan (AUS) v Andes Ling (HKG)
Jamie Pattinson (AUS) v [5] Navaneeth Prabhu (IND)
[7] James Lloyd (AUS) v Aaron Liang (SGP)
Dylan Molinaro (AUS) v [1] Hafiz Zhafri (MAS)

Women’s First Round Draw: City of Greater Shepparton International
[1] Sarah Cardwell (AUS) v Jihyun Lee (KOR)
Maria Kalafatis (AUS) v [6] Yasshmita Jadishkumar (MAS)
[5] Tayla Mounter (ENG) v [WC] Jennifer Condie (AUS)
Reserve v [4] Wai Tze Wing (HKG)
[3] Toby Tse (HKG) v Lam Po Ying (HKG)
Reserve v [7] Aiman Shahbaz (PAK)
[8] Riffat Khan (PAK) v Ellie Jones (ENG)
Mingyeong Heo (KOR) v [2] Akari Midorikawa (JPN)