PSA Squash Challenger begins in Temuka
- Dave Worsley
- Jun 25
- 2 min read
No major upsets on the first day of play at the Trust Aoraki Midlands PSA Challenger and District Open on the international glass court in Temaka as the men's draw got underway.
Only one match went past three games as Squash Midlands coach George Thomas took a game off Frenchman Antoine Riehl much to the delight of the enthusiastic crowd in attendance.
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There was a win for Northland teenager Freddie Jameson as the left-handed played some superb shots in an entertaining contest against Japan's Yuta Ando. He'll now face Dutchman Sam Gerrits in the second round.
The longest match of the day featured Midlands bred Chris van der Salm in a battle with Korea's Seojin Oh which lasted for 32 minutes before the kiwi fell away in the third set as Oh applied the pressure.
Second round play features fifth seed Mason Smales from the Henderson squash club starting at midday against Hong Kong's Lap Man Au while all other seeded players are also in action.
That includes New Zealand No 2 Elijah Thomas with a ranking of 100 in the world as well as top seed Rowan Damming the current world No 89 and former top junior player.
The tournament continues until the finals on Sunday 29 June with the women's PSA Challenger starting on Friday.
Trust Aoraki Midlands PSA Challenger - Temuka
Men's first round:
Day session:
Lap Man Au (Hong Kong) bt (ALT) Paddy Mulvihill (NZ) 11-5, 11-3, 11-6 (21 minutes),
William Donnelly (NZ) bt Allan Bailey (NZ) 11-1, 11-3, 11-5, (27 minutes),
Ahmed Sherif (Egypt) bt Bryce McMullan (NZ) 11-6, 11-6, 11-9 (29 mins),
Jacob Robinson (Australia) bt James Nicholas (Australia) 11-2, 11-4, 11-4 (26 mins),
Evening session:
Freddie Jameson (NZ) bt Yuta Ando (Japan) 11-9 , 11-8, 11-6 (28 mins)
Antoine Riehl (France) bt George Thomas (Wales/NZ) 11-7, 11-5, 4-11, 11-4 (28 minutes)
Islam Kouritam (Egypt) bt Tom Marshall (NZ) 11-4, 11-9, 11-3 (22 minutes)
Seojin Oh (Korea) bt Chris van der Salm (NZ) 11-8, 11-8, 11-1 (32 minutes)
