Fantastic Fields Confirmed For New Zealand Squash Open

The New Zealand Squash Open entry list has proved to be a massive success for the first co-sanctioned tournament in the country since 1993. A huge number of nations are represented and some of the sport’s biggest stars are set to take on Kiwi hero’s Paul Coll and Joelle King in November in Tauranga.

The PSA Silver tournament with the Robertsons Lodges men’s draw and Barfoot & Thompson women’s draw will be held 8-13 November on the state-of-the-art glass court in the Trustpower Baypark Arena with Squash TV broadcasting the event around the world.

The tournament features players from 20 different nations from all corners of the globe with the men’s draw headed by world No 2, British Open champion, current Commonwealth Games men’s singles and mixed gold medallist, Coll from the South Island town of Greymouth.

For all of the deserved accolades for Coll , he will be challenged for the title by world No 4 and former top ranked Mohamed El Shorbagy, the Egyptian great who now plays for England. A new hot-shot on the world circuit, Victor Crouin from France has also entered with his highest ranking of 10.

Fourteenth ranked Miguel Rodriquez from Colombia is also in the draw. He was the British Open champion in 2018 and is always tough to beat. There are also a raft of other top players who will bring out plenty of supporters and talent in the entry list.

Other nations with players making the entry cut are Egypt, India, Qatar, Scotland, the United States, Hong Kong, Hungary, Argentina, Canada, Malaysia and Czech Republic.

The women’s draw is led by New Zealand legend King from the Waikato with a ranking of six in the world. King has had a career-high ranking of three and has a huge history of success in both singles, doubles and mixed at Commonwealth Games. But victory in Tauranga will be tough with the fantastic line-up assembled in the women’s entries.

King’s career rival in the form of England’s Sarah-Jane Perry at No 8 has entered while Salma Hany from Egypt will be third seed with a ranking on nine. 

The Belgian sisters who are in hot form this season, Nele Giles at 12 and Tinne Giles at 13 are next with Canadian Hollie McNaughton who beat King in the semifinals of the Commonwealth games at No 19 followed by Tesni Evans (Wales) as seventh seed at 20 and American Sabrina Sobhy, otherwise known as ‘Roadrunner’ at 21 rounding out the top eight seeds.

Other nations represented in the women’s field include Japan, Scotland, Germany, Australia and Hong Kong.

Tournament director Wayne Werder is thrilled with the calibre of players who will be making their way to the Bay of Plenty for the Nations Cup and New Zealand Open.

“It’s extremely exciting to see top level international squash back in New Zealand. It’s also great to see New Zealand’s Paul Coll and Joelle King leading the seedings but they will have players from 20 different countries challenging them for the title. We are certainly guaranteed an action packed two weeks of squash,” said Werder.

The New Zealand Open will be preceded by the Nations Cup, 3-6 November at the same venue where eight teams will compete under an innovative scoring format in the opening of the world SquashFORWARD series. Three teams have been confirmed so far with New Zealand featuring Coll and King, Scotland with experienced players Greg Lobban and Alison Waters as well as Australia who have Rex Hedrick and Jess Turnbull.

Tickets for both the Nations Cup and New Zealand Open can be purchased here. NZ Festival of Squash (iticket.co.nz)

 

Entry lists– name, nation, PSA World Ranking:

Men:

Paul Coll, New Zealand, 2, Mohamed ElShorbagy, England, 4, Victor Crouin, France, 10, Miguel Rodriquez, Colombia, 14, Saurav Ghosal, India, 17, Adrian Waller, England, 24, Mohamed ElSherbini, Egypt, 29, Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi, Qatar, 34, Sebastien Bonmalais, France, 35, Greg Lobban, Scotland, 37, Henry Leung, Hong Kong 51, Tsz Kwan Lau, Hong Kong, Balazs Farkas, Hungary, 62, Timonthy Brownell, United States, 67, Leandro Romiglio, Argentina, 68, David Baillargeon, Canada, 69, Charlie Lee, England, 70, Syed Azlan Amjad, Qatar, 73, Christopher Gordon, United States, 74, Andrew Douglas, United States, 76, Addeen Idrakie, Malaysia, 80, Martin Syec, Czech Republic, 83, Spencer Lovejoy, 85, Lwamba Chileshe, New Zealand, 97 (Wildcard).

Women::

Joelle King, New Zealand, 6, Sarah-Jane Perry, England, 8, Salma Hany, Egypt, 9, Nele Giles, Belgium, 12, Tinne Giles, Belgium, 13, Tesni Evans, Wales, 18, Hollie Naughton, Canada, 20, Sabrina Sobhy, United States, 21, Olivia Clyne, United States, 22, Jasmine Hutton, England, 28, Lisa Aitken, Scotland, 31, Tomato Ho, Hong Kong, 35, Ka Yi Lee, Hong Kong, 39, Satomi Watanabe, Japan, 50, Tsz-Wing Tong, Hong Kong, 53, Kenzy Ayman, Egypt, 61, Salma Eltayeb, Egypt, 63, Saskia Beinhard, 69, Jessica Turnbull, Australia, 73, Sarah Cardwell, Australia, 75, Nadia Pfister, Switzerland, 77, Malak Khafagy, Egypt, 86, Alicia Mead, England, 87, Kaitlyn Watts, New Zealand, 96 (Wildcard).