Sam Buckley and Conor Moran are back on court this week in Europe looking to build on the respective career best rankings they recently achieved on the PSA men’s tour.
Buckley will be in action in the Czech Republic on Thursday as the PSA No.105 – his highest rating yet after moving up two more places following participation in last week’s Richardson Wealth Open in Canada.
Having started the season last month at No.126, the Dubliner has enjoyed some fruitful trip abroad, reaching the quarter-finals of the Helsinki Challenger in Finland and the semi-finals at Simply The Brest in France.
Last week’s trip to Canada turned out to be a short-lived campaign as Buckley was eliminated in the opening round in Vancouver.
But that appearance helped to bolster his latest ranking and he will now hope to do better at this week’s Czech Open on Brno, a $33,500 Copper status event catering for 24 players – including Declan James, the PSA No.25 from England.
Buckley will be on court on Thursday morning (10am Irish time) against Aly Hussein, the PSA No.103 from Egypt. At stake is progress to a second-round fixture versus Yannick Wilhelmi, the PSA No.45 from Switzerland, who is seeded fifth in Brno.
Moran, meanwhile, will be back in the thick of it in Switzerland following his recent break. Buoyed by a quarter-final run in Helsinki, a title win at the Stourbridge Open in England and then reaching round two at Simply The Brest, the 2025 Irish Nationals champion rose to a career-best of No.146.
Last week’s inactivity will see him go into the Swiss Open in Geneva listed at No.149 but with every confidence when he meets Lwamba Chileshe, the No.125 from New Zealand, in a first-round match on Wednesday (1:30pm Irish time).
Up for grabs at the 24-player, $12K Challenger event in Switzerland, where PSA No.94 Yassin Elshafei of Egypt is the No.1 seed, is a second-round meeting with Elijah Thomas, the PSA No.97 from New Zealand who is seeded seventh.
Switching to the women’s tour, PSA No.71 Hannah Craig has a tall assignment to begin with on Saturday in Toronto at the Canadian Open, a silver status, $96,250, 24-player event.
The Irish No.1 has been drawn against Torrie Malik, the PSA No.42 from England, with the tournament’s second seed and PSA No.7, Tinne Gillis of Belgium, awaiting the winner in round two.
Craig, who achieved a career best No.61 ranking earlier this year before injury, has had just one outing so far this season on the circuit. That was a first-round loss at the Open Classic in New York on October 5th.
Meanwhile, Irish No.2 Breanne Flynn, the PSA No.118, is next on court on October 28th in Andorra.
This 24-player, $12K Challenger event will also feature Hannah McGugan, the PSA No.233, who is also due to feature at this week’s Swiss Open where her opening round opponent on Wednesday has yet to be confirmed.
Breanne Flynn is currently training away in Dublin, hoping her excellent start to the new PSA season will soon lead to a career-high ranking.
It was October 2022 when the qualified physiotherapist achieved her existing best mark of 104.
However, having bounced back to full fitness after breaking the fifth metatarsal in her foot at the Odense Open last March in Denmark, she has started the 2025/26 campaign with a bang.
After coaching and providing physio to the Ireland U19s at the World Junior Championships in Egypt in July, Flynn contested six tournaments in Australia, France, Ireland and the USA.
There was a title win at the IACT Fitzwilliam Open in Dublin and an appearance in the Genesee Valley final in Rochester, success that lifted her to No.111 in the rankings – seven places off her career best.
The Dubliner has since embarked on a training break, dipping slightly to 115 in the rankings, but this rest and recuperation will end with an opening round Pierre & Vacance match against No.198 Ruqayya Salem of Egypt on October 28th.
That tournament in Andorra will be followed by participation in the Monte Carlo Classic from November 10th (Lauren Baltayan of France, the No.74, is first up) and then the Schraglage Open in Germany from November 19th.
Ahead of these events, the 30-year-old Sutton LTC player has taken part in On The T, the Squash Ireland quick-fire Q&A:
What Do I Love Most About Squash: I love that it is competitive.
First Squash Memory: Going on court for group coaching as a kid with Eoin Ryan in Sutton LTC.
Biggest Squash Influence: From a female perspective, it would have to be Nicol David. She was the world No.1, winning the World Championship eight times. She was my idol growing up.
Favourite Racket: Dunlop.
Favourite Shot: Forehand volley drop.
Favourite Court: Probably Court Two in Sutton.
Pre-Match Meal: I’m pretty simple, probably a sandwich. Turkey or something with a bit of protein in there.
Best Squash Memory: Winning Irish Nationals. That is the best, as well as winning some bits in the States. The first time I won Nationals was in 2022.
Toughest Loss: Definitely the European Team Championships a couple of years ago. I lost a five-setter at the No.1 string and we ended up losing the tie to Norway. I still remember it very vividly, but I got my revenge against that girl [Madeleine Hylland] in a 3-2 five-setter just a few weeks ago.
Toughest Opponent: Probably the Egyptians in general.
Squash Advice To Young Girls: I would say keep at it, keep going, because the sport gives back to you in so many ways that you don’t even know yet.
Ambition: I definitely want to keep playing in the pro circuit, want to break the top 100, top 50, and I want to hopefully be a role model to girls in Ireland playing squash growing up, knowing that being a professional squash player is an achievable goal.
Sam Buckley’s run to the semi-final at the Simply The Brest tournament in France has resulted in a massive bounce to his PSA ranking.
The former Irish Nationals champion was placed No.122 on the world list before last week’s event, but a bumper harvest of 96 rankings points has lifted him 13 places to No.109 – his highest ever position.
Buckley was in terrific form in Brest, where his three wins included his 3-1 elimination of the No.1 seed, Emyr Evans of Wales, who was the PSA No.69.
Even more ranking points could have been harvested as Buckley was most unfortunate to narrowly lose his semi-final 2-3 (11-13, 9-11, 11-3, 11-6, 7-11) to Edward Clain, the PSA No.82.
As it was, the 96 points credited to him, added to the 60 banked for reaching last month’s Helsinki Challenger quarter-finals, lifted him to a career-high ranking that he will now look to build on in Canada and the Czech Republic.
Buckley has been drawn to play the No.81, Matthew Lai of Hong Kong China, in the opening round of the Richardson Wealth Open in Vancouver on October 15th, while the No.94, Aly Hussein of Eqypt, will be his opening round opponent in Brno on October 23rd at the Czech Open.
2025 Nationals champion Conor Moran only had a one-place lift in the rankings this week after his campaign in Brest ended with a 2-3 defeat to Brice Nicolas, the No.83 from France.
However, his move up to No.147 still represented a career high in a super season where his next adventure – the Swiss Open in Zurich – is scheduled to begin with an opening round match on October 22nd against Lwamba Chileshe, the No.126 New Zealand-based player from Zambia.
Moran had arrived in France fresh from his Stourbridge Open title win in England, which lifted him 10 places in the rankings.
Switching to the women’s PSA circuit, the new season opener for No.71 Hannah Craig ended in a hard-fought 2-3 opening round defeat to the No.70, Alexandra Haydon of Australia, at the Open Classic in New York.
Craig’s PSA schedule next has her drawn against Torrie Malik, the No.42 from England, at the Canadian Open in Toronto on October 25th.
Breanne Flynn, the No.115-ranked player, has been paired against Ruqayya Salem, the No.199 from Egypt, in the opening round of the PSA Challenger 12 Pierre and Vacance in Andorra on October 28th.
She is also due to face Lauren Baltayan, the No.72 from France, in the opening round at the Monte Carlo Classic on November 10th.
Breanne Flynn has finished runner-up at the 21-player Genesee Valley Club Open in Rochester.
The Irish women’s No.2, who is No.128 on the PSA rankings, was playing her second tournament in the United States since clinching the IACT Fitzwilliam Ladies PSA Open title in Dublin on September 6th.
Flynn bowed out of the Abbas Family Squash Inspire event in Columbia at the quarter-final stage, losing 0-3 (7-11, 10-12, 6-11) to Malak Taha, the No.152 PSA rank from Egypt, the day after she beat Canadian Mollie Chadwick, the PSA No.251, 3-0 (11-5, 11-4, 11-1) in the round of 16.
Flynn fared much better in Genesee, though, reeling off three consecutive wins to make last Saturday’s final against Amina El Rihany of Egypt.
The decider proved a step too far for Flynn, who lost 0-3 (3-11, 7-11, 5-11) to the No.63 PSA rank.
Flynn had defeated the PSA No.85, Madeleine Hylland of Norway, 3-2 in the semi-finals after defeating the No.109, Cristina Tartarone of Italy, 3-2 and the No.144, Kara Lincou of France, 3-0.
Three of Ireland’s leading squash players suffered quarter-final eliminations on Thursday, Conor Moran and Sam Buckley losing at the Helsinki PSA Challenger and Breanne Flynn beaten at the Abbas Family Squash Inspire in Columbia.
Moran, the PSA men’s No.172 rank, had two wins to his credit in Finland coming into his quarter-final, including the scalp of Edwin Clain, the Helsinki No.4 seed who is ranked 83rd on the PSA list.
However, Diego Gobbi, the Helsinki No.7 seed, wasn’t added to Moran’s hit list as the Brazilian, who is listed as the PSA No.105, eventually clinched a 2-3 win.
Moran demonstrated tremendous resilience, twice coming from behind to level at 1-1 and 2-2, but the deciding game got away from him early and he could only manage a single point.
Buckley, the No.8 seed in Finland, had comfortably seen off England’s Noah Meredith in his only match before the quarter-finals, and he got off to a flyer against No.3 seed Daniel Poleshchuk from Israel.
The PSA No.126 won the first game 14-12 but was then eclipsed in the next three by a player listed as No.75 by PSA.
In the USA, eight-seed Flynn, ranked No.128 on the PSA women’s list, came into her quarter-final buoyed by a 3-0 dismissal of Molly Chadwick, the No.251 PSA rank from Canada.
However, that dominance wasn’t repeated against Egypt’s Malak Taha, the PSA No.152, and she was beaten 0-3.
HELSINKI PSA CHALLENGER (Finland) – Quarter-finals
Conor Moran 2-3 (7-11, 11-5, 6-11, 11-7, 1-11) v Diego Gobbi (Brazil)
Sam Buckley 1-3 (14-12, 6-11, 7-11, 6-11) v Daniel Poleshchuk (Israel)
ABBAS FAMILY SQUASH INSPIRE (Columbia, USA) – Quarter-final
Breanne Flynn 0-3 (7-11, 10-12, 6-11) v Malak Taha (Egypt)
Breanne Flynn has won the IACT Fitzwilliam Ladies PSA Open title, impressively seeing off Elise Romba of France 3-0 in the final in Dublin.
Seeded No.3 for the 16-player, $3,000 PSA Satellite tournament, Flynn came into Saturday’s title decider against the No.1 seed having defeated Polly Clark, the No.2 seed from England, 3-1 in Friday night’s semi-final.
Romba, for her part, booked her final ticket with a 3-1 in over Australia’s Erin Classen, but the French left-hander was never allowed to get into her stride against the faster-paced Flynn, who raced to title victory in just 23 minutes.
The Irish player demonstrated her intent when taking the first game 11-5, and while the two games that followed were more keenly contested, Flynn held sway to take the title 11-9 and 11-8.
The success is a timely fillip for Flynn, who started her season last month with two tournaments in Australia, followed by a 25th-place finish at the European Championships at Chartres.
That preparation held her in very good stead back in Dublin, where she won four matches in three days. That streak culminated with her victory over Romba, who is ranked 120th on the PSA list, 11 ahead of the 131-ranked Flynn.
Ireland’s Breanne Flynn has emphatically played her way into Saturday’s IACT Fitzwilliam Ladies Open final.
The 16-player $3,000 PSA Satellite event featured quarter- and semi-finals on Friday, and Flynn, the Irish No.2 who is ranked No.3 at the Dublin event, chalked up successive 3-1 wins over the English duo of the eighth-seeded Polly Clark and second seed Isabel McCullough.
Flynn’s win over Clark took 38 minutes, with victory confirmed with an 11-4 game four, and her encounter with McCullough took six minutes longer before that success was confirmed with an 11-5 game four.
Flynn, who started her season with two tournaments in Australia followed by a 25th-place finish at the European Championships in Chartres, will now play Elise Romba, the No.1 seed, in Saturday’s final, starting at 2pm.
Romba needed 35 minutes to win her semi-final 3-1 against Australia’s Erin Classen, having been taken to five games earlier in the day by Wales’ Ellie Breach. The French player is currently ranked 120th on the PSA chart, 11 ahead of Flynn in 131st place.
SEMI-FINALS
Elise Romba [1] WON 3-1 (9-11, 11-7, 11-2, 11-4) v Erin Classen [4]
Isabel McCullough [2] LOST 1-3 (9-11, 10-12, 11-6, 5-11) v Breanne Flynn [3]
FINAL
Romba [1] v Flynn [3] – Saturday, 2pm (live on SQUASH TV)
It’s been a week of familiar faces for the Irish men’s players taking part in the European Individual Closed Squash Championships in France.
Three Irish – Jack O’Flynn, Sean Murphy and Alex Smith – pitched up on Wednesday for the opening round of the 45-player men’s section in Chartres.
None of the trio enjoyed any round of 64 luck, as they were beaten 2-3, 0-3 and 1-3 by respective Danish, Liechtenstein and Czech opposition.
What happened since, though, was essentially local parish news. The players would have travelled to France in the hope of encountering foreign opposition the whole way through. Instead, there have been two all-Irish shoot-outs.
It was Thursday night when O’Flynn took on Murphy in a 33/40 place match he won 3-0. That qualified him for a 33/36 place match against Smith on Friday afternoon, which he won 3-1 to secure a 33/34 Saturday fixture against Poland’s Jakub Pytlowany.
This win for Flynn over Smith was a reversal of the result when they clashed less than two weeks ago in Dublin. Contesting the 3/4 play-off at the PSA Satellite event in Fitzwilliam, Smith got the better of O’Flynn on that occasion 3-2.
That result came after Smith had lost out 0-3 in his Satellite semi-final to Murphy, who went on to lift the title on August 9.
Smith will now play Hjalmer Mois of the Netherlands for 35th place in France, with Murphy looking to clinch 37th against his Dutch opponent Joseph Burman.
In the women’s section, Breanne Flynn remained in the hunt for a 25th-place finish with a 3-0 win over Portugal’s Catarina Nunes and a 3-1 success against Megan van Drongelen of the Netherlands.
European Individual Closed Squash Championship
MEN’S PLACE MATCHES
Sean Murphy
LOST 0-3 (6-11, 9-11, 10-12) v Jack O’Flynn (33-40 match)
WON 3-0 (11-9, 11-7, 11-7) v Ivan Krznaric of Croatia (37/40 match)
NEXT: Plays Joseph Burman of the Netherlands (37/38 match) on Saturday
Jack O’Flynn
WON 3-0 (11-6, 11-9, 12-10) v Sean Murphy (33/40 match)
WON 3-1 (11-8, 9-11, 11-8, 11-8) v Alex Smith (33/36 match)
NEXT: Plays Jakub Pytlowany of Poland (33/34 match) on Saturday
Alex Smith
WON 3-1 (10-12, 11-6, 11-3, 11-8) v Ivan Krznaric of Croatia (33/40 match)
LOST 1-3 (8-11, 11-8, 8-11, 8-11) v Jack O’Flynn (33/36 match)
NEXT: Plays Hjalmer Mols of the Netherlands (35/36 match) on Saturday
WOMEN’S PLACE MATCHES
Breanne Flynn
LOST 1-3 (5-11, 16-14, 7-11, 8-11) v Tessa Ter Sluis of the Netherlands (17/32 match)
WON 3-0 (13-11, 11-3, 11-2) v Catarina Nunes of Portugal (25/32 match)
WON 3-1 (11-7, 9-11, 11-5, 11-8) v Megan van Drongelen of the Netherlands (25/28 match)
NEXT: Plays Lea Barbeau of France (25/26 match) on Saturday
The 2025 Irish Senior Nationals delivered a weekend of gripping action at Fitzwilliam LTC, with dramatic encounters, upsets, and dominant displays across all divisions. Conor Moran stole the show in the Men’s A final, while Hannah Craig successfully defended her title in commanding fashion. Meanwhile, Brian Knox lived up to expectations in the Men’s B, cementing his status as the top seed.
Men’s A Final: Moran Stuns Buckley in Marathon Thriller: In what will be remembered as one of the most dramatic finals in recent history, Conor Moran triumphed over top seed and defending champion Sam Buckley in a five-game epic. Buckley looked set to retain his title after taking the first two games convincingly (11-8, 11-4), but Moran refused to back down. The Dublin native clawed his way back into contention with a tight 14-12 third-game win before dominating the fourth (11-3). The decider was an absolute nail-biter, with Moran holding his nerve in extra points to clinch the title 17-15, dethroning Buckley and claiming his place at the top of Irish squash. Fifth seed Sean Conroy took the final podium place, pipping Michael Creaven in another full-distance thriller.
Women’s A Final: Craig Goes Back-to-Back with Straight-Game Victory: Hannah Craig proved once again why she is the dominant force in Irish women’s squash, securing her second consecutive national title with a straight-game victory over Breanne Flynn. The Ulster star showcased her clinical finishing and composure in key moments, edging a competitive first game 13-11 before pulling away in the next two (11-7, 11-6). Craig’s back-to-back triumphs further solidify her reputation as the premier female player in the country, with Flynn once again finishing runner-up to her international teammate despite a spirited performance and dominate run to the final. Craig was joined on the podium by her fellow Ulster star, as Hannah McGugan dispatched Aimee McConnell in straight games to take third place.
Men’s B Final: Knox Claims Title as Top Seed The Men’s B division also saw its fair share of high-quality action, with top-seeded Brian Knox emerging victorious over fellow Waterford player Adam Power. In a match that remained tight throughout, Knox proved too steady, taking the final in straight games (11-9, 11-5, 11-9).
A Weekend to Remember – The 2025 Irish Senior Nationals once again delivered an unforgettable weekend of squash, with new champions crowned and old champions reaffirming their dominance. Moran’s resilience in his stunning comeback, Craig’s continued supremacy, and Knox’s composed run in the Men’s B ensured that fans were treated to high-stakes action from start to finish. As the dust settles, anticipation already begins for next year’s edition, where returning stars and rising talents will look to write the next chapter in Irish squash folklore.
Squash Ireland has selected both men’s and women’s teams for the 2024 WSF World Team Squash Championships in Hong Kong, taking place from December 9 to 15.
This is the first time the tournament will feature concurrent men’s and women’s events, as previous editions alternated between the two annually. The men’s team includes Sam Buckley, Conor Moran, Oisin Logan, and Michael Creaven, while the women’s team comprises Hannah Craig, Breanne Flynn, Hannah McGugan, and Ciara Moloney Doheny.
To support the players’ fundraising efforts, donations can be made here. Follow Squash Ireland on social media for updates.
