Different Draws For Kiwis At US Open

New Zealand squash professionals Paul Coll and Joelle King have differing draws at the US Open Squash tournament starting this weekend.

With prizemoney of US$165,000 for each of the men’s and the women’s draws the US Open is regarded as an important event on the PSA tour.

Coll ranked No.10 in the world has drawn top seed Karim Abdel Gawad of Egypt who was ranked No.1 for part of 2017 and has won five titles this year. It’s a tough first round for the South Islander, however he is known for upsetting more favoured players.

King is the 11th seed in the women’s main draw and plays a yet-to-be decided qualifier in her first round on Sunday night (USA time).

In qualifying are Auckland’s Campbell Grayson took on 52nd ranked Charles Sharpes (England) taking the win in 62mins 9-11, 11-5, 11-5, 11-6. Grayson has a current ranking of 34 in the world. Rotorua’s 26-year-old Amanda Landers-Murphy ranked 43rd faced Liu Tze-Ling of Hong Kong in her first round qualifying match taking her win in 34mins 11-9, 2-11, 15-13, 11-6.

The tournament runs from 7-15 October, hosted at Drexel University in Philadelphia. Event page on PSA can be found here.