Breanne Flynn is on the cusp of achieving a career-best PSA ranking after enjoying a sharp rise of seven places following last week’s Monte Carlo Classic.
The 30-year-old went into the 24-player, $32.5K Copper status tournament ranked No.116, and she scored a deserved 3-0 win over Nadia Pfister, the No.99 from Switzerland, in the round of 32.
That booked a glamour round of 16 tie versus Melissa Alves, the No.19 from France, and while the result was a 0-3 loss, there was solace to be had from the No.1 seed going on to win the title with three more 3-0 wins.
Flynn learned on Monday that her rankings reward for reaching the second round was a jump to No.109, just five places shy of the career-best No.104 registered in October 2022.
The Sutton player is back on court this Wednesday in the round of 16 of the 24-player, $6K Schraglage Open in Germany, where she is seeded No.2. Flynn, who had an opening round bye, will face Tereza Siroka, the No.245 from the Czech Republic, in the round of 16.
Hannah Craig is also in action on Wednesday in the $73.5K Copper status Indian Open in Indore, having moved up one place in the rankings to No.67 following last week’s China Open.
The 26-year-old was beaten 0-3 in the round of 32 by Aifa Azman, the PSA No.32 from Malaysia, but she has travelled to India confident of enjoying a much longer run.
Listed as the No.3 seed in the 24-player event, she opens against Anika Dubey, a local player ranked No.415, after getting an opening round bye on Tuesday.
Victory would secure a quarter-final on Thursday against either Nga Ching Cheng, the No.104 from Hong Kong China, or Rathika Suthanthira Seelan, the No.146 from India.
Switching to the men’s circuit, Sam Buckley will be in action in the opening round of the 24-player, $15K London Open. Having enjoyed a career-best No.95 earlier this month, the 24-year-old is currently positioned No.99.
He will play Heston Malik, the No.201 from England, with a round of 16 fixture against Elijah Thomas, the No.96 from New Zealand, up for grabs.
WEDNESDAY’S SCHEDULE
Indian Open: Hannah Craig v Anika Dubey (8am Irish time)
Schraglage Open: Breanne Flynn v Tereza Siroka (2:30pm Irish time)
London Open: Sam Buckley v Heston Malik (8pm Irish time)
Ireland have won three titles at the eight-event IACT Irish Junior Open, with Scotland and Spain clinching two apiece and England one after a brilliant three-day tournament in Dublin.
After several matches were played at ALSAA on Friday and Saturday to accommodate the huge 162 player list, all the Sunday focus was on host club Sutton and the relentless action that unfolded kept the large crowd enthralled.
Just three of the eight No.1 seeds were still alive coming into finals day and they all fell by the wayside to leaves the trophies going to three No.2 seeds, two No.3/4s, one 9/12 and two 9/16s.
It was England’s Ronnie Hickling who got the show started, the 3/4 seed winning his BU19 final 3-1 against Brazil’s Owen Hendricks [9/16].
Next, it was the turn of the Irish to celebrate as three titles came their way in quick succession.
Ruby Carroll [3/4] won the all-Irish GU13 final 3-0 against Daisy Morrissey [2], Jamie Morrissey [9/16] brought the house down with his 3-1 BU13 win over Switzerland’s Zane Harms [3/4], while Ella Erickson [9/12] was just as inspired in her 3-1 GU19 win over Spain’s Damila Medina [5/8].
While Medina was beaten, Spanish eyes were soon smiling as the next two finals went their way. Andrea Gonzalez [2] beat England’s Aditi Rao [1] 3-1 in the GU15 decider and Siena Hall Rogers [2] won by the same score in her GU17 showdown with Ireland’s Zoe Yeomans [1].
That was the first of three finals Ireland were to finish second best in as Scotland now came to the title party.
Thomas Myers [9/16] was a 3-1 BU15 winner over Marcelino Cronin [5/8], and the margin of victory was the same for Murdo Mackenzie [2] in his BU17 decider against Christian Dromgoole [1].
🇮🇪 YOUR 2025 IACT IRISH JUNIOR OPEN PODIUM 🏆
BU13: 🥇 Jamie Morrissey [9/16] 🇮🇪, 🥈Zane Harms [3/4] 🇨🇭,🥉 Harry Knox [1] 🇮🇪
GU13: 🥇 Ruby Carroll [3/4] 🇮🇪, 🥈 Daisy Morrissey [2] 🇮🇪, 🥉 Jessica Craig-Gould [5/8] 🏴
BU15: 🥇 Thomas Myers [9/16] 🏴,🥈 Marcelino Cronin [5/8] 🇮🇪, 🥉 Michael Lai [2] 🇮🇪
GU15: 🥇Andrea Gonzalez [2] 🇪🇸, 🥈 Aditi Rao [1] 🏴, 🥉 Mila Maziuk [3/4] 🇨🇭
BU17: 🥇 Murdo Mackenzie [2] 🏴, 🥈 Christian Drumgoole [1] 🇮🇪, 🥉 George Barker [9/16] 🏴
GU17: 🥇 Siena Hall Rogers [2] 🇪🇸, 🥈 Zeo Yeomans [1] 🇮🇪, 🥉 Maria Tuleja [3/4] 🇵🇱
BU19: 🥇 Ronnie Hickling [3/4] 🏴, 🥈 Owen Hendricks [9/16], 🇧🇷, 🥉 Franciszek Michniewicz [2] 🇵🇱
GU19: 🥇 Ella Erickson [9/12] 🇮🇪, 🥈 Danila Medina [5/8] 🇪🇸, 🥉 Shriya Drawid [3/4] 🇮🇪
Only three of the eight No.1 seeds – England’s Aditi Rao (GU15) and Ireland duo Zoe Yeomans (GU17) and Christian Dromgoole (BU17) – have safely negotiated their way through to Sunday finals at the IACT Irish Junior Open following two days of rip-roaring action in Dublin.
The BU19 final will feature Brazil’s Owen Hendricks [9/16] against England’s Ronnie Hickling [3/4]. Hendricks lit up the Saturday action with his 3-1 quarter-final win over Marc Altarriba, the No.1 from Spain.
He then picked off another Spanish opponent, Alberto Mateo [3/4], with a 3-0 semi-final success to book a decider versus Hickling, who took out Franciszek Michniewicz, the No.2 from Poland, 3-0 in his semi.
In contrast, the BU17 panned out to seeding as Ireland’s Christian Dromgoole [1] won through to a final on his home court in Sutton against Scotland’s Murdo Mackenzie [2].
Both these players represented their respective countries at U19s at the World Squash Junior Championships earlier this year in Cairo, as did U19 finalists Hendricks and Hickling.
BU15 No.1 Rafael Rodriguez Segovia, the Spaniard who was last year’s BU13 title winner in Dublin, lost 1-3 in his quarter-final against Scotland’s Thomas Myers [9/16].
The Scot then beat another Spanish player, Itzel Reguero Garcia [3/4] 3-0 in the semi-finals to secure a place in the final against Marcelino Cronin [5/8], the Cairo-based Irishman.
A winner at the Spanish Junior Open in August, Cronin took out the No.2 seed, fellow Irishman Michael Lai of Mount Pleasant, 3-0 in the semi-finals.
In the BU13, Ireland’s Harry Knox, the No.1 seed from the Celtic club, was pipped 2-3 in a five-game semi-final classic with Zane Harms, the 3/4 seed from Switzerland. Knox had jumped two games up but was then reeled in, resulting in Harms booking his ticket to play another Celtic club player, Jamie Morrissey [9/16], in the final.
It was Ireland’s Eoin O’Brien [5/8], playing at his local Sutton club, who opened up the bottom half of the draw with a 3-0 quarter-final win over Ailong Chen, the No.2 Irish player from Mount Pleasant. O’Brien, though, couldn’t repeat those heroics in a semi-final that Morrissey clinched 3-0.
Ireland will have representatives in three of the four girls’ finals, including the American-based Ella Erickson who won her way through to the GU19 decider despite her 9/12 seeding.
Another player who played at the World Squash Championships four months ago, her Group A run included wins over two Irish teammates in Cairo, Ella Walsh [5/8] and Riley Slade [1], and another success over Sara Sabry [5/8], the recent winner of the Connacht Senior Open.
She will now face Damila Medina [5/8] in the final. The Spaniard lost just a single game in her progress to the decider, beating Irish, Scottish, Dutch and Macau opposition.
Yeomans, another member of the Ireland team in Egypt, will play in the GU17 final against Spain’s Siena Hall Rogers [2] after they each posted four group wins.
The GU15 final, meanwhile, will be an all-overseas affair after the top seeds, England’s Aditi Rao [1] and Spain’s Andrea Gonzalez [2], won through.
Rao clinched her place with a win over Emillie LeBlond [3/4] of France in a five-game semi-final thriller that went right to the wire before the English player clinched the fifth 11-9.
In contrast, an all-Irish pairing will feature in the GU13 final with Limerick’s Ruby Carroll [3/4] facing Celtic’s Daisy Morrissey [2].
Top seed Raghad Aboelela, the Irish player from Mount Pleasant, came unstuck in her group, losing 1-3 to Caoimhe English [5/8].
Aside from the eight showpiece finals scheduled for Sutton from 11:30am through to 3pm, there are multiple minor placing finals to be decided with play getting underway at 9am.
SUNDAY’S FINALS SCHEDULE
11:30am – BU19: Brazil’s Owen Hendricks [9/16] v England’s Ronnie Hickling [3/4]
12pm – GU13: Ireland’s Ruby Carroll [3/4] v Ireland’s Daisy Morrissey [2]
12:30pm – BU13: Switzerland’s Zane Harms [3/4] v Ireland’s Jamie Morrissey [9/16]
1pm – GU19: Ireland’s Ella Erickson [9/12] v Spain’s Damila Medina [5/8]
1:30pm – GU15: England’s Aditi Rao [1] v Spain’s Andrea Gonzalez [2]
2pm – BU15: Scotland’s Thomas Myers [9/16] v Ireland’s Marcelino Cronin [5/8]
2:30pm – GU17: Ireland’s Zoe Yeomans [1] v Spain’s Siena Hall Rogers [2]
3pm – BU17: Ireland’s Christian Dromgoole [1] v Scotland’s Murdo Mackenzie [2]
Five of the eight top seeds at this weekend’s IACT Irish Junior Open at Sutton and ALSSA in Dublin are Irish players, including recent Spanish Junior Open champion Harry Knox.
The Celtic player will open his BU13 top-of-the-draw account against a qualifier on Friday afternoon, with No.2 seed Ailong Chen of Mount Pleasant also billed to start against a qualifier.
The Irish pair played each other twice recently with Knox winning in three on both occasions, firstly in the third/fourth place play-off at the Danish Junior Open and then in the Ulster Junior Open semi-finals.
Sutton’s Christian Dromgoole, who played for Ireland at the World Squash Junior Championships in Cairo in July, is the BU17 No.1, a campaign he will open against Switzerland’s Harry Motte, the 17/32 seed, on Friday at 10am at his home club.
Scotland’s Murdo MacKenzie is listed as No.2, with an opening round match versus Nick Peter [17/32] from Switzerland.
Rafael Rodriguez Segovia, the Spaniard who was last year’s BU13 title winner, is the No.1 seed in the BU15, with Ireland’s Michael Lai of Mount Pleasant the No.2.
Segovia’s fellow countryman, Marc Altarriba, is the BU19 No.1, with Poland’s Franciszek Michniewicz the No.2.
Ireland have three No.1 seeds in the four girls’ events, Raghad Aboelela (GU13), Zoe Yeomans (GU17) and Riley Slade (GU19).
Mount Pleasant’s Aboelela, who was fourth at the Danish Junior Open, starts in Group A against fellow Irish player Izzy Bailey, the 9/16 from Leinster CC.
Sutton’s Zoe Yeomans, another of the Irish team from this year’s World Squash Championships, is the GU17 No.1. She has a Group A opener against fellow Sutton player Rebecca Jackson [5/8] at 4pm Friday.
Spain’s Siena Hall Rogers, the GU17 No.2, has a Friday afternoon Group B opener versus Kiara Fernandes, the 5/8 from Portugal.
Riley Slade, who also represented Ireland in Egypt, is the GU19 No.1. The Mount Pleasant player will begin with a Group A fixture at 4:30pm on Friday versus Sara Sabry, the Westwood player who recently won the Connacht Senior Open.
Isabel Siobhan Fallon, the No.2 seed from Sutton who came second at the recent Lithuanian Junior Open, will begin her campaign with a 4:30pm Friday Group B match versus Danila Medina, the 5/8 from Spain.
England’s Aditi Rao, the GU15 top seed, will play Ireland’s Chloe Jordan [9/16] of Sutton in her opening match on Friday at 4:30pm in ALSSA.
Spain’s Andrea Gonzalez, the No.2, will start her campaign an hour earlier at ALSAA against Sutton’s Esme Ring [9/16].
The three-day tournament begins at Sutton on Friday morning with four matches scheduled for 9am and the last batch of opening day matches are pencilled in for 8pm. Friday matches at ALSSA are scheduled from 12pm through to 5:30pm.
The draws have been published for this weekend’s eight-event, 162-player IACT Irish Junior Open in Dublin.
The 2024 tournament catered for 132 players but the upcoming edition, hosted again by Sutton LTC from Friday to Sunday, has an additional 30 entries.
Five of the eight events have Irish players seeded as the No.1 – Harry Knox (BU13), Christian Dromgoole (BU17), Raghad Aboelela (GU13), Zoe Yeomans (GU17) and Riley Slade (GU19).
The three overseas No.1 seeds include Rafael Rodriguez Segovia (BU15), the Spaniard who won last year’s BU13 title. His fellow countryman, Marc Altarriba, is the BU19 top seed, with England’s Aditi Rao No.1 in the GU15.
Six of the eight events at the 2024 tournament were won by the No.1 seeds.
The three days of play will begin at 9am on Friday in Sutton, with the additional courts at ALSSA clicking into action at midday.
Squash Ireland is calling on clubs to nominate their best volunteers for the 2025 Volunteers In Sport Awards, hosted by the Federation of Irish Sport.
It’s believed that 460,000 volunteers are involved in all sport across the island of Ireland, with a fair chunk assisting the participation, growth and promotion of squash.
Nominations are now open until December 15th for the latest annual volunteer awards, with a celebration function to follow in Dublin on February 26th. The hope is that squash will feature strongly on the day.
A Federation of Irish Sport statement read: “The 2025 Volunteers in Sport Awards will bring together individuals from all 32 counties to celebrate their commitment to fostering participation and ensuring that sport is accessible to all.
“Their contributions not only inspire communities but also enable clubs and organisations to thrive, supporting social cohesion and well-being across Ireland. Without their dedication, many sporting opportunities simply would not exist.
“A new addition to the 2025 awards is the launch of a brand-new award – the Club/Community Sport Organisation award.
“This award recognises a volunteer-led sports club, community organisation, or group that has made an outstanding contribution to promoting sport, physical activity, and community well-being. It celebrates excellence in inclusion, participation, leadership, and positive impact through sport.
“In every corner of the country, from city centres and suburbs to rural villages, over 460,000 volunteers work tirelessly each week to bring sport and physical activity to life for people of all ages.
“Over 250,000 coaches volunteer one million hours a week to Irish Sport. The impact of their work is profound, providing multi-generational opportunities to engage in sport, build communities, and promote healthy lifestyles. The economic value of their contribution is estimated to be worth €1.5bn to the Irish economy.
“There are also two closed categories of Outstanding Achievement award and the addition of a Lifetime Achievement award. These prestigious awards are not open for public nomination.
“Recipients are selected by the judging panel from entries received from the county volunteers, based on outstanding merit, impact, or long-term contribution.”
Mary O’Connor, the FIS CEO, said: “The goodwill and work of volunteers cannot be taken for granted.
“These awards are our chance to say thank you and, in acknowledging the incredible efforts volunteers make, ensure that we continue to encourage more people to get involved and safeguard the future of sport in the country.”
Hannah Craig is hoping to fire up her season with participation at this week’s $124.5K China Open.
The PSA women’s No.68 has yet to break the first-round barrier in 2025/26, as she fell at the first hurdle in New York and Toronto.
However, she is now in Shanghai preparing to take on Aifa Azman, the PSA No.32 from Malaysia, on Tuesday.
At stake in the 24-player tournament – where Hania El Hammamy, the PSA No.2 from Egypt, tops the seedings – is qualification for a second-round fixture against Amina Orfi, the PSA No.3 from Egypt.
The trip to China is the start of a busy period for Craig, as she is also entered in the $73.5K Indian Open in Indore and the $6k Fountain Tire Winter Open in Edmonton.
Breanne Flynn is closer to home this week, taking part in the $32.5K Monte Carlo Classic.
The PSA No.116 enjoyed a cracking start on Monday, winning 3-0 against Nadia Pfister, the No.99 from Switzerland, to book a glamour Tuesday meeting with Melissa Alves, the No.19 from France.
Sam Buckley has enjoyed another major bounce up the PSA men’s squash rankings, climbing to No.95 following his run to the Bern Open semi-final.
Buckley had recorded a major milestone when his 5eme Open Lagord quarter-final appearance in France catapulted him into the top 100, the first Irish men’s player to get that high since current head coach Arthur Gaskin was on the circuit a decade ago.
However, there was no resting by Buckley on his laurels following that encouraging campaign in France, and he continued his momentum in Switzerland where he came within a whisker of reaching the tournament final.
Despite leading 1-0 and 2-1, he was ultimately forced to settle for an agonising 2-3 loss to Switzerland’s David Bernet, the eventual title winner, but Buckley’s reward was a four-place rise from No.99 to a new career-best No.95 ranking.
His next assignment will now come at the $15K, 24-player London Open where he takes on England’s Heston Malik, the PSA No.205, in the opening round on November 19th.
Conor Moran also achieved a career-best last week following his run to the Swiss Open quarter-finals with a Connacht Senior Open title win.
PSA listed him at No.138, an incredible rise from No.345 at the start of 2025, but he has slipped back one place in the latest update to No.139 after a week away from the circuit.
Two of last year’s Irish Junior Open champions will play at the 2025 tournament next weekend in Dublin.
Ireland’s Zoe Nyhan, who won the 2024 GU13 as the No.1 seed, will compete in the GU15 event while Spain’s Alberto Mateo, who came through as the 5/8 seed to win the BU17, is entered in the BU19.
Six of the eight events at the 2024 tournament were won by the No.1 seeds.
Aside from Nyhan living up to her ranking, Spain’s Rafael Rodriguez Segovia (BU13), Poland’s Mattea Saliba (GU15), Portugal’s Gustavo Cruz (BU15), Wales’ Nia Seren Thomas (GU17) and Zimbabwe’s Ryan Gwidzima (BU19) all won titles last year as the No.1.
The only exception to this top seed dominance, aside from Spain’s Mateo in the BU17, was the GU19 victory by Ireland’s Lydia McQuillan, who was seeded No.2.
The 2024 tournament catered for 132 players but the upcoming 2025 edition, which will again be sponsored by IACT and hosted once more by Sutton LTC from Friday to Sunday, has attracted a bumper 166-start list consisting of 80 Irish players and 86 from overseas.
That figure features 26 players from Switzerland, 17 from Scotland, 16 from Spain, eight from England and other players representing Australia, Japan, France, the Netherlands, Portugal, Brazil, Poland and Macau.
The welcome increase in participants will see a second venue – ALSAA – used to stage matches, and a shuttle bus will run on an hourly basis between the two venues.
The draws for the eight events are in the pipeline and will be published soon.
Five of last month’s Irish Masters Open title winners – Dave Lalor, Michael Conlon, Tanya Scullion, Maureen Duke and Aisling McArdle – won titles at this weekend’s Ulster Masters Open. The 15-event, 88-player tournament took place over two days at Belfast Boat Club.
The other nine men’s title winners were Mark Gilliland, Dermot MacNamara, Patrick Morrissey, Alan Megaw, David Ayerst, Adrian Leeson, Patrick Barclay, Gerry Callanan and David Gotto.
Lynda Dunlop, meanwhile, picked up the other women’s title on offer.
Ulster Masters Open finals
MO35 (four players): Mark Gilliland [1] of Ballyearl won all three round-robin matches to finish ahead of Rory Canavan [3] of ABC
WO35/40 (seven players): Tanya Scullion [1] of Cookstown won 3-0 v Aoileann Ni Chomhrai [3] of Sutton
MO40 (eight players): Dermot MacNamara [4] of Fitzwilliam won 3-0 v Donnagh Crowley [6] of Gleneagle
MO45 (eight players): Patrick Morrissey [2] of Freshford won 3-2 v Kevin Moore [1] of Fitzwilliam
MO40/45B (six players): Alan Megaw [3] of Belfast won 3-1 v William Nicholson [5] of Mid-Ulster
MO50 (eight players): David Ayerst [1] of Civil Service won 3-0 v Vincent Pippet [3] of Belvedere
WO50 (three players): Aisling McArdle of Fitzwilliam won her two round-robin matches to finish ahead of Suzanne O’Shaughnessy of Westwood
MO55 (eight players): Adrian Leeson [1] of Ballynafeigh won 3-1 v Tom Crowe [2] of Belvedere
MO55B (three players): Peter Barclay [2] of ABC won his two round-robin matches to finish ahead of John McCartney [1] of Belfast
WO55 (three players): Lynda Dunlop of Ballynafeigh won her two round-robin matches to finish ahead of Beverley Scott of Ballynafeigh
MO60 (eight players): Gerry Callanan [4] of Fitzwilliam won 3-0 v Teddy Reinecke [2] of Belvedere
MO65 (seven players): Dave Lalor [4] of Fitzwilliam won 3-0 v Nicky Rusk [6] of ABC
WO60/65 (four players): Maureen Duke of Thurles won all three of her round-robin games to finish ahead of Rose Hynes of Fitzwilliam
MO70 (eight players): Martin Conlon [1] of Ennis won 3-0 v Robert Garvin [7] of Barnt Green
MO75 (three players): David Gotto of Windsor won his two round-robin matches to finish ahead of Paddy Butler of South Down
