After a five year hiatus, the PSA Tour returns to the Foley Squash Pavilion this week in the form of the $16,000 Ganem Vein Institute Cactus Classic in Phoenix, Arizona.
Tuesday evening’s qualifying finals will complete the sixteen-player main draw. All matches are scoring live on U.S. Pro Series Live powered by www.clublocker.com
Days after winning the $15,000 Oregon Open, Egyptian world No. 33 Omar Abdel Meguid travels to the southwest where is seeded to win a second title in just as many weeks in what would be a rematch of the Oregon Open final against Egypt’s two seed
The first round of main draw play will be contested over two days–the top half of the draw on Wednesday and the bottom half of the draw on Thursday.
Thursday sees three Americans in action beginning with world No. 52 Harrity, the three seed, taking on a qualifier at 5:30pm local time, 7:30pm ET.
Hanson, world No. 75, follows on after Harrity against Welsh world No. 74 Peter Creed.
American world No. 158 occupies the wild card sport, and will face Fathi in the final main draw match at 7:45 pm local time.
The matches are taking place in a single court in the private home of Tournament Director David Foley, situated at the base of the scenic Camelback Mountain.
Foley reports that the players have enjoyed sunny 80-degree weather in the Valley of the Sun.
“Record crowds of 200,000 people attended the Phoenix Open gold tournament last weekend, and a few of them stuck around to witness the opening round of the Ganem Vein Institute Cactus Classic,” Foley said.
In 2011, Foley hosted the inaugural $11,000 Cactus Classic.
“Beautiful day of squash or just about anything in Phoenix today,” Foley continued. “The high was 83 degrees with more of the same forecast for the entire week. Before play began, the players could be found relaxing and lounging poolside.
“Some of the more adventurous lads went for a swim only to discover that an unheated pool in the middle of the winter in the desert is very similar to a cold plunge. Not many braved it for very long.”