Johannesburg – South Africa’s leading squash players, Hayley Ward and Dewald van Niekerk, will add further prestige to the domestic calendar when they compete in the first Assore Tour Challenger 6 tournament.
The tournament, which takes place at Parkview Squash Centre in Johannesburg, starts on Wednesday (August 29).
The event, the first of two events of this status, each offering R110 000 prize money, forms part of the expanding Assore Tour, which has transformed the South African squash landscape this year by creating a structured pathway for local players to earn valuable Professional Squash Association (PSA) ranking points without having to travel overseas.
The series has combined PSA Satellite and Challenger events, allowing emerging players to build rankings before progressing to higher-level tournaments.
Increased prizemoney and stronger international fields have steadily raised the standard of competition, while giving South Africans regular exposure to world-class opposition.
The latest tournament reflects that progression, with the country’s top-ranked players joining a quality field featuring several overseas competitors.
The second Assore Challenger 6 tournament will be held at Parkview from August 4 to 8.
Ward, from Gqeberha and representing Eastern Province, arrives as South Africa’s leading woman, ranked 64th in the world.
Van Niekerk, another Gqeberha product who represents SA Country Districts, is South Africa’s No 1 man and sits 80th on the PSA rankings.
Among those expected to challenge them are South African No 2 Damian Groenewald of Pretoria, ranked 134th in the world, and highly rated Egyptian junior Malak Samir, who is ranked 117th.
With many of the competitors having gained valuable experience through the Assore Tour this year, another week of fast-paced, high-quality squash is anticipated.
Tournament director Craig van der Wath said the series had fulfilled the objectives set at the beginning of the year.
“I’ve been excited about every tournament from the start because our goal has always been to create opportunities for South African players,” Van der Wath said.
“The plan was to establish the satellite events so our players could start earning PSA ranking points and gradually work their way into the bigger tournaments.
“That is exactly what has happened.”
Van der Wath further stated that the quality of the international field had also strengthened the local events.
“We have a really good foreign entry and gives our local players the opportunity to test themselves against strong international opposition,” he said.
A second Assore Tour Challenger 6K tournament will follow immediately from August 4 to 8, a scheduling decision designed to make competing more affordable.
“We’ve paired the two tournaments together so players can travel once and compete in both events, making it far more cost-effective,” Van der Wath said.
“It has worked exactly as we hoped. I’ve been particularly impressed with the way our young South Africans have responded.”
He pointed to the progress of rising talent Judah Phillips, who recently won one of the PSA Satellite events.
“We created the satellite tournaments for players who don’t make it beyond the early rounds of the Challenger events, giving them more competitive matches and the chance to collect ranking points,” Van der Wath said.
“We realised that by only playing the bigger tournaments they would compete in perhaps four events a year, well short of the 11 tournaments generally needed to establish a meaningful PSA ranking.
“By pairing the satellite events with the Challenger tournaments, they can continue accumulating valuable points.”
Van der Wath added that the Assore Tour was set to continue growing, with provisional dates already earmarked for a men’s $12 000 Challenger and a women’s $9 000 event at the end of September, subject to final confirmation.
