The Bega Squash Open is offering up a smorgasbord of international talent for its annual competition.
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Now signed as part of a Professional Squash Association (PSA) tour visit, 22 top level players have made the long trip to compete and show off their prowess to eager local fans.
Play got underway for the men’s Open on Wednesday night with locals Jeff Rowe and Troy Northey testing their mettle against players from Singapore and South Korea respectively.
Sponsor from Tarra Volkswagen and event director John Stylianou said he had already got the chance to watch many of the entrants play.
“It’s truly incredible to watch these guys, they’re just on another level,” he said.
“They compete all around the world and they’re just really great guys.”
Winner of last year’s tournament Josh Larkin is the number one seed for the main draw after spending most of last year training in Switzerland.
Competitors hailed from around the world and said they were enjoying the surrounds of the Bega Valley on their first-ever visit.
Two competitors travelled from Sydney as “Aussie locals” and were fairly familiar with the conditions, but those from further abroad were adapting to the chilly Bega mornings.
“I actually prefer it where it’s cold,” said Bangkok based player Arnold Phat.
“We just don’t have a winter in Thailand and it’s always hot, if you had to run 500 metres down the street you would be dripping wet,” he said with a laugh.
Qualifying matches ran on Wednesday night with the opening rounds of the 16 player draw getting underway Thursday night.
Phat took on Jeff Rowe in the opening qualifiers on Wednesday, winning in straight sets, while local hopeful Troy Northey faced South Korean export SangHoon Lee in the opening round.
Cooma player Corey Bedingfield faced off with India’s Guhan Senthilkumar with all three going down.
Eight divisions will run in the regular men’s competition and five divisions will run for women with a full card of matches to go ahead over the weekend.
Former world number 3 Madeline Perry will run coaching sessions throughout the five-day event and is the number one seed for the women, only retiring her professional career in 2015.