Mohamad Zakaria (Egy) 3-1 [1] Toufik Mekhalfi (Fra) 14-12, 12-10, 10-12, 11-4 (67m)
[1] Torrie Malik (Eng) 3-0 [3] Saran Nghiem (Eng) 11-4, 11-7, 11-6 (32m)
Semis : Zakariah run continues in Manchester
Unseeded Egyptian teenager Mohamed Zakariah continued his run of upsets as he beat third seeded Welshman Emyr Evans in a second consecutive five game contest. In the final he’ll meet French top seed Toufik Mekhalfi.
The women’s final will be an all-English affair between top seed Torrie Malik and third seed Saran Nghiem.
Quarters : Zakariah and Megahed gatecrash semis
Unseeded Egyptian teenagers Mohamed Zakariah and Nour Megahed upset the seedings to join the remaining to seeds in the semi-finals in Manchester.
Zakariah took on former junior rival Finnlay Withington and downed the second seed in an hour-long five game battle. He’ll meet Wales’ Emyr Evans with in the top half Toufik Mewkhalfi meets Dewald van Niekirk.
Megahed also prevailed in a five game thriller, ousting Ali Loke 14-12 in the fifth. She next faces top seed Torrie Malik while second and third seeds Yasshmita Jadishkumar and Saran Nghiem meet in the bottom half.
All the matches are free to watch and will be streamed live via the PSA YouTube channel.
Round Two :
Women’s round two went mostly to seeding, with Nour Megahed producing the only upset as she ousted Asia Harris to join seven seeds in the last eight.
In the men’s Finnlay Withington and Jonah Bryant re-engaged with Withington running out the winner and he now faces another familiar foe in Mohamed Zakariah, who along with Abd-alla Eisaa ousted seeded players to reach the last eight.
2023 Edition Preview
Now in its third year the Northern Joe Cup just gets better and better!
This year’s festival of squash takes place between the 20th and the 26th of November with the PSA event starting on the 22nd. The week long festival is dedicated to showcasing the amazing sport that is squash while raising both awareness and funds for The Brain Tumour Charity. Over the last two years the event has raised almost £20,000 for the charity and this year’s event promises to raise even more.
The headline at this year’s festival is a PSA Challenger Tour $9K Men’s and Women’s event with over 40 professional players taking part.
In addition there will be an amateur team tournament, an individual amateur graded event along with junior squash camps, evening squash coaching clinics and incorporating the Cheshire Ladies League match on the 20th including exhibition matches and the North West Counties Squash match on the 21st.
In addition we have over 200 school children being introduced to the game over the week through taster sessions supported by Manchester City Council and the PSA Foundation as part of the community outreach programme.
STUNNING DRAWS for 2023
This year’s draw for the PSA tournament is packed with many of the world’s best young professionals with almost half the field from outside England, representing 12 different nations and including 10 of the world’s top 100 players. The matches are split between Cheetham Hill Squash Club which has three glass-backed courts with viewing from both behind the court and from the gallery and Fairways Lodge which has four courts with balcony viewing plus a glass back court with banked seats to host two hundred spectators for our later rounds.
Both the main Men’s and Women’s draws have some fascinating matches. In the main women’s draw we have Torrie Malik (ENG) top seed with Akanksha Salunkhe (IND) at 2, Yasshmita Jadishkumar (MAS) 3 and Xin Ying Yee (MAS) at 4. Local favourite and last year’s champion, Saran Nghiem (ENG) is seeded at 5 and two of our resident club players Welsh Champion, Lowrie Roberts (WAL), is seeded at 9 and Amy Royale (ENG) at 24. We also have five U19 girls taking part with Asia Harris (ENG) seeded at 6, Hana Ismail (EGY) seeded at 10, Nour Megahed (EGY) seeded at 18, Amelie Haworth (ENG) seeded at 19 and Charlie McCrone (ENG) seeded at 23. A terrific line up and the prospect of some great matches.
In the men’s draw, Toufik Mekhalfi (FRA) is the number 1 seed, with Finnlay Withington, the local favourite, (ENG) at 2, Emyr Evans (WAL) at 3 and Dewald van Niekerk (RSA) at 4, Owain Taylor (WAL) seeded at 5, and Temwa Chileshe (NZL) seeded at 6. Once again some great matches to look forward to. Again we have a strong U19 contingent in the men’s draw with Mohamed Zakaria (EGY) seeded at 9, Jonah Bryant (ENG) seeded at 13 and Hamza Khan (PAK) seeded at 19. There is strong local interest with Stephen Hearst (NI), resident at Cheetham Hill and Lewis Doughty (ENG) and Isaac Rawcliffe (ENG) in first round action.
All the matches are free to watch and will be streamed live via the PSA YouTube channel.
This event would not have possible without the support of our headline sponsors Atlantic Industries, Beaverbrook’s, Middlewood Locks, The Club, Head and Marmalade Moon and further support from NWCSL, Squash Travel, Melior Sports, AK Flooring and HiB.
