REPORT COURTESY OF PSA World Tour.com
The Arion Homes Off the Wall Squash Open is the second event on English soil on the Challenger Tour this week, with the Challenger 5 level tournament taking place in Ipswich from today (Thursday 22 to Saturday 24 July).
Like the majority of tournaments on the Challenger Tour at the moment, this event is being played with domestic restrictions on entries due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, meaning only those based in the United Kingdom are allowed to participate.
Portuguese No.1 Rui Soares, Brazil’s Vini Rodrigues and Denmark’s Theis Houlberg are all in action this week, with Soares being the No.2 seed for the tournament.
The only man above him in the World Rankings this week is World No.22 Daryl Selby, with the Englishman returning to the professional game for the first time since the suspension of the Tour in March 2020, with his last outing coming in Canary Wharf, the last men’s event on the PSA World Tour, before it’s six-month hiatus.
The women’s draw will be led by Englishwoman Anna Kimberley, but she has four other members of the world’s top 100 aiming to defeat her to get the title.
Compatriot Kace Bartley and Scotland’s Alison Thomson are joined by two women who have come straight from debut appearances in the World Championships, in Ali Loke and Georgia Adderley, and PSA World Tour.com spoke to the latter prior to the tournament.
Adderley, the World No.99, took her first title on Tour a few weeks back at the City of Peterborough Squash & Racketball Club Open, and she admits that it was a big step in her progression.
“I feel like I am playing well. I am really enjoying being back competing regularly and feel as though I’m starting to play squash the way I can and the way I want to play. I made a lot of changes over lockdown and they are starting to come through in matches which is great,” the Scot explained.
“For me, winning a first PSA title has been a big goal of mine for the past couple of years. I was really happy with my performance throughout the weekend and played some positive squash which I have been looking to do in competitions since the restart. It made me hungry for more!”
Following some withdrawals prior to the tournament, Adderley was a late call-up to the 2020-2021 PSA World Championships in Chicago, and she enjoyed the experience.
The Scot, who has been as high as World No.90 previously, is hoping that her first title, and the experience she gained in Chicago, can help her moving forward in her career.
“In all honesty, I was completely star struck. Going downstairs to get my breakfast and seeing top ten players everywhere was pretty awesome,” she admitted.
“It was so inspiring and I took a lot away from my match that I am looking to improve on this week in Ipswich. I’ve got some things I want to do on court which I took away from Chicago and I will just take one match at a time and see what I can do!
“With every event you want to go and try and win it but for me taking it one match at a time and enjoying it will give me the best chance of doing just that!”
The event takes place from Thursday 22 to Saturday 24 July at the Ipswich Sports Club, and you can follow the PSA Challenger Tour on Twitter and Facebook for daily updates from the event.
Action from the Arion Homes Off the Wall Squash Open will be streamed throughout the week on the Ipswich Sports Club Facebook page, where you will be able to watch action throughout the week.
Men’s First Round Draw: Arion Homes Off the Wall Squash Open
[1] Daryl Selby (ENG) v Nick Mulvey (ENG)
Matthew Proctor (ENG) v [7] Vini Rodrigues (BRA)
[6] Stuart MacGregor (ENG) v Theis Houlberg (DEN)
Aaron Allpress (ENG) v [4] Curtis Malik (ENG)
[3] Joshua Masters (ENG) v Nick Ratnarajah (ENG)
James Peach (ENG) v [8] Owain Taylor (WAL)
[5] Tom Walsh (ENG) v Phil Nightingale (ENG)
Perry Malik (EN) v [2] Rui Soares (POR)
Women’s First Round Draw: Arion Homes Off the Wall Squash Open
[1] Anna Kimberley (ENG) v Sofia Aveiro Pita (POR)
Phoebe Colman (ENG) v [6] Katriona Allen (SCO)
[5] Georgia Adderley (SCO) v Bruna Marchesi Petrillo (ITA)
Margot Prow (ENG) v [3] Ali Loke (WAL)
[4] Kace Bartley (ENG) v Tayla Mounter (ENG)
Georgina Kennedy (ENG) v [7] Emilia Korhonen (FIN)
[8] Katie Wells (ENG) v [WC] Emma Bartley (ENG)
Torrie Malik (ENG) v [2] Alison Thomson (SCO)
REPORT COURTESY OF PSA World Tour.com