SLS to host first PSA Challenger tour in SL

By Susil Premalal  
Sri Lanka Squash will host its first ever PSA International Challenger tour in Sri Lanka from August 15 to 18 at the Air Force Squash Complex in Ratmalana.  
The tournament has attracted entries from nine countries including India, Hong Kong, Bahrain, Kuwait, Egypt, Japan, Australia and Iran in addition to the heavyweights from Sri Lanka.  
Reliance Logistics (Pvt) Limited has come forward as the main sponsor while Amro Sugars and Venus Commodities will be the co-sponsors of the tournament.  
The tournament is conducted by Sri Lanka Squash (SLS) with the guidance of PSA (Professional Squash Association).  
SLS initiated providing membership of the PSA to eligible national players and hosting local satellite tournaments in 2021 for the players to earn the required qualifying ranking points.  With the foundation laid in 2021 in making this sport an International professional sport, Sri Lankan players started reaping benefits by qualifying for PSA International events in 2022 and it didn’t take much time for them to reach top rankings and win PSA International and satellite events overseas.  
In 2023, SLS took a further step in organising PSA Open Satellite events with the participation of International players in Sri Lanka helping local players obtain much-needed International exposure in home conditions.  
Reliance 3K PSA International Challenger tour will be the first PSA international challenger tour to be hosted in Sri Lanka and will mark another significant milestone in the PSA journey of Sri Lanka Squash.  
The programme has gone a long way with five Sri Lankan players breaking into top 300 in the world while bringing home PSA International and Satellite titles and even reaching career-best World Ranking of 121 within a short span of three years.  
Both the Women’s and Men’s Open events of Reliance 3K PSA International Challenger tour be fiercely contested with current Sri Lankan No. 1 player Ravindu Laksiri, holding a PSA International Ranking of 141 and Indian Women’s National Champion Anahat Singh with a PSA international ranking of 113 putting forward their challenge as top seeds.  Yehia Essam from Egypt, Saeed Abdul from Pakistan and Shamil Wakeel from Sri Lanka are the other top favourites in the Men’s Open category while Janet Vidhi from India and Chanithma Sinaly and Yeheni Kuruppu from Sri Lanka will be top contenders for the Women’s title.