There are now just 50 days to go before the start of the 2026 PSA Irish Open at Fitzwilliam, a star-studded tournament headed up by Egypt’s Nada Abbas, the PSA No.15 women’s rank, and Scotland’s Greg Lobban, the PSA men’s No.22 and defending Dublin champion.
With the entry deadline soon to close, the provisional start list for the Copper status event will leave Irish squash fans salivating.
There are currently 11 of the world’s top 62 women’s players, including Ireland’s Hannah Craig, on the start list for the 24-player event.
The quality will be just as high in the 24-player men’s section as 10 of the world’s top 58 have already registered to play.
Both the women’s and men’s events have an equal prize fund of $41,500 each up for grabs, and the five days of competition are sure to be intense when it begins on May 19th.
Aside from Craig, other star Irish names such as Sam Buckley, the PSA men’s No.107, Conor Moran, the men’s No.153, and Breanne Flynn, the women’s No.100, will feature.
Egypt have the dominant representation in the women’s section as eight of the top 10 ranked players that have entered hail from there.
Aside from Abbas, their other leading entries include No.27 Zeina Mickawy, No.30 Hana Ramadan, No.42 Nour Heikal, No.45 Amina El Rihany, No.46 Nadine Shahin, No.55 Menna Hamed and No.61 Habiba Hani.
Looking to break this Egyptian stronghold will be No.51, Marie Stephan of France, England’s Alice Mead, the No.57, and Ireland’s Craig, the No.62.
Switching to the men’s field, aside from 2025 champion Lobban, some other high-profile entries include the PSA No.27, USA’s Timothy Brownell, the No.41, Pakistan’s Muhammad Ashab Irfan, and the No.43, Egypt’s Moustafa Elsirty.
Meanwhile, the No.44, Patrick Rooney, heads up a strong England contingent that also features No.48 Sam Todd, No.50 Adrian Waller and No.52 Nick Wall.
Squash Ireland CEO Scott Graham enthused: “The PSA Irish Open is one of the marquee events in the calendar every year. It’s huge, and this year it has Copper status again with a big prize fund equally split between the men and the women.
“It has attracted some of the top players in the world. We’re going to have an absolutely stacked field, and we’re delighted to have the top Irish players as well.
“Given that their world rankings have been improving every year, they are going to be really competitive again this year. We’re really looking forward to seeing how they get on, and we’re going to have great crowds watching this year.
“Squash Ireland are working with Fitzwilliam, who do a fantastic job hosting the tournament every year, to organise some participation activity during the tournament as well. Watch out for more news on that. We hope to see you there.”
