Squash Waikato Turns 50 

Squash Waikato is Turning 50 this year and they have decided to celebrate in style with their Waikato Open this weekend being a $5K PSA Challenger Event.

With a $5K challenger event this has seen some of our top players come out to try and take the goods. Lance Beddoes is seeded first and will be looking to take home top honours. With Lance having not long returned from overseas this experience is sure to help him out. Beddoes will have a tough task ahead of him with experienced veteran Kashif Shuja seeded second. Evan Williams and Ben Grindrod are seeded 3rd and 4th and will make sure that neither Shuja or Beddoes have an easy run to the final. The top 8 is rounded out with Kiwis Chris Van Der Salm and Zac Millar along with Australians TJ French and Alex Eustace.

The Womens Open will see first seed Joelle King playing her last local tournament before the British Open. Amanda Landers-Murphy is seeded second and is expected to meet King in the final. Waikato University Sir Edmund Hillary Scholarship student Emma Millar is 3rd seed and Danielle Fourie is 4th.These players will be trying to see if they can make their way to the final.

With over 150 players entered this is sure to be a great weekend of Squash. All the draws can be found here

Squash Waikato has lots of other Jubilee celebrations planned for later in the year but this weekend they will start off with a Mix n Mingle on the Friday night. Regional Manager Marcus Niles is excited about the weekend and the year ahead “It’s a massive year for us.  In partnership with Hamilton Squash & Tennis, we have been working very hard to put the Waikato Open back on the map as one of NZ’s most prestigious events.  We are pleased with the quality of the draw, and this event coupled with our Jubilee celebrations make for a big 2015 for Waikato Squash”  Their 50^th season will culminate in glitzy awards and Jubilee celebration at the Waikato Stadium planned for November. 

PSA games start 6pm Friday with Qualifying rounds on Thursday from 11am.