Satomi Watanabe (Photo PSA)
The Steel City Open squash championships gets underway tomorrow in Pittsburgh, with World No.7 Satomi Watanabe having been named as the top seed.
With the likes of recent Cincinnati Gaynor Cup finalists Amanda Sobhy and Georgina Kennedy both arriving in strong form, there will be plenty of players hopeful of a successful run.
The form player entering this week’s event is World No.11 Amanda Sobhy, who picked up her 23rd PSA Tour title last week at the Cincinnati Gaynor Cup, an event in which she defeated both Jasmine Hutton and England No.1 Kennedy in straight games to lift the Silver-level title.
Sobhy will be hoping another positive week here can propel her back into the top ten of the PSA World Rankings and towards the all-important top-eight seeding positions for Majors on the PSA Squash Tour.
Sobhy could once again face off against World No.9 Kennedy if both were to advance through to the semi-finals stage of the event. The British No.1 is the No.2 seed in Pittsburgh and begins her campaign against one of Marta Dominguez or Jana Swaify, before a potential quarter-final with No.6 seed Rowan Elaraby, who will be competing in her first event since a serious injury at last year’s PSA World Championships.
Top seed Watanabe, meanwhile, will be eyeing a first PSA Tour title of the season and her first since Squash in the Land in January 2025.
The Japanese No.1 has enjoyed another terrific season on the PSA Squash Tour, reaching her maiden Platinum semi-final at the Hong Kong Open and displaying her world-class ability when defeating World No.1 Hania El Hammamy at the China Open. Watanabe is in the same quarter of the draw as Egyptian No.7 seed Malak Khafagy.
Elsewhere, dangerous left-hander Jasmine Hutton will pose a threat from her No.4 seed position, having shown the potential to defeat anybody in the draw on her day. The World No. 15 will be hoping to continue her push up the rankings towards a coveted top-10 position.
The other seeding positions see French No.1 Melissa Alves, winner of the Monte Carlo Classic earlier this season and potential quarter-final opponent for Hutton, as well as USA’s Sabrina Sobhy, who has been named as the No.6 seed and could face off against older sister, Amanda, if the pair were to reach the quarter-finals stage.
