Now in its third year the Northern Joe Cup just gets better and better! This year’s festival of squash takes place between the 20th and the 26th of November with the PSA event starting on the 22nd. The week long festival is dedicated to showcasing the amazing sport that is squash while raising both awareness and funds for The Brain Tumour Charity. Over the last two years the event has raised almost £20,000 for the charity and this year’s event promises to raise even more.
The headline at this year’s festival is a Professional Squash Association (PSA) Challenger Tour $9K Men’s and Women’s event with over 40 professional players taking part. In addition there will be an amateur team tournament, an individual amateur graded event along with junior squash camps, evening squash coaching clinics and incorporating the Cheshire Ladies League match on the 20th including exhibition matches and the North West Counties Squash match on the 21st.
In addition we have over 200 school children being introduced to the game over the week through taster sessions supported by Manchester City Council and the PSA Foundation as part of the community outreach programme.
STUNNING DRAWS for 2023
This year’s draw for the PSA tournament is packed with many of the world’s best young professionals with almost half the field from outside England, representing 12 different nations and including 10 of the world’s top 100 players. The matches are split between Cheetham Hill Squash Club which has three glass-backed courts with viewing from both behind the court and from the gallery and Fairways Lodge which has four courts with balcony viewing plus a glass back court with banked seats to host two hundred spectators for our later rounds.
Both the main Men’s and Women’s draws have some fascinating matches. In the main women’s draw we have Torre Malik (ENG) top seed with Akanksha Salunkhe (IND) at 2, Yasshmita Jadishkumar (MAS) 3 and Xin Ying Yee (MAS) at 4. Local favourite and last year’s champion, Saran Nghiem (ENG) is seeded at 5 and two of our resident club players Welsh Champion, Lowrie Roberts (WAL), is seeded at 9 and Amy Royale (ENG) at 24. We also have five U19 girls taking part with Asia Harris (ENG) seeded at 6, Hana Ismail (EGY) seeded at 10, Nour Megahed (EGY) seeded at 18, Amelie Haworth (ENG) seeded at 19 and Charlie McCrone (ENG) seeded at 23. A terrific line up and the prospect of some great matches.
In the men’s draw, Toufik Mekhalfi (FRA) is the number 1 seed, with Finnlay Withington, the local favourite, (ENG) at 2, Emyr Evans (WAL) at 3 and Dewald van Niekerk (RSA) at 4, Owain Taylor (WAL) seeded at 5, and Temwa Chileshe (NZL) seeded at 6. Once again some great matches to look forward to. Again we have a strong U19 contingent in the men’s draw with Mohamed Zakaria (EGY) seeded at 9, Jonah Bryant (ENG) seeded at 13 and Hamza Khan (PAK) seeded at 19. There is strong local interest with Stephen Hearst (NI), resident at Cheetham Hill and Lewis Doughty (ENG) and Isaac Rawcliffe (ENG) in first round action.
All the matches are free to watch and will be streamed live via the PSA YouTube channel. More information about the event and the draws can be found on the Cheetham Hill Squash Club Facebook page and The Northern Joe Cup Instagram page @thenorthernjoecup.
This event would not have possible without the support of our headline sponsors Atlantic Industries, Beaverbrook’s, Middlewood Locks, The Club, Head and Marmalade Moon and further support from NWCSL, Squash Travel, Melior Sports, AK Flooring and HiB.
You can find out more about Joe who the event is in memory of here https://www.thebraintumourcharity.org/get-involved/our-supporter-groups/supporter-groups/groups/northern-joes-fund/ and donate to the charity via the event at https://www.justgiving.com/page/njc2023
