Oliver Dunbar (Photo PSA)
Kiwi Wildcard Oliver Dunbar took centre stage on the opening day of the New Zealand Squash Open for the second year running, stunning World No.49 Velavan Senthilkumar in five games at the iconic Isaac Theatre Royal in Christchurch.
Twelve months on from recording his maiden World Events win on the PSA Squash Tour at the Silver-level event, World No.125 Dunbar once again produced a quality performance on home soil to hold off a late comeback from Senthilkumar and set up a second-round tie with two-time World Junior Champion Mohamad Zakaria.
After racing into a quick-fire two-game lead with some inspired attacking play, the 19-year-old’s accuracy began to falter in the third and fourth games, allowing Senthilkumar to step up the court and drag his way back into the contest.
However, Wellington-born Dunbar steadied the ship just in time, rediscovering his targets at the start of the fifth game and moving through to a well-deserved 11-8, 11-6, 6-11, 2-11, 11-5 win after 63 minutes of play.
After the match, Dunbar said: “It was nice to do it last year, but there was a bit more pressure on me this time around. But I enjoy playing on this court, so I’m looking forward to another game on it tomorrow.
“Over the last year or so, I’ve definitely got better at the mental side of my game. It was good to be able to come through after being 2-0 up and seeing him come back to force a fifth game.
“It’s an incredible court and stagehere. I’m so happy to play on it whenever I can. It’s been great to have lots of my friends here and have some people from my club come down to watch me today.”
Meanwhile, Former World No.3 and 11-time New Zealand National Champion Joelle King’s return to PSA Tour action ended in an agonising defeat at the hands of Canadian No.1 Hollie Naughton.
The 16-time PSA Tour winner, whose last appearance on tour was 10 months ago at the 2025 Irish Open, matched Naughton blow for blow late into a thrilling fifth game; however, it was World No.37 Naughton who hung on to clinch an 11-2, 7-11, 8-11, 11-7, 11-8 victory.
Elsewhere, New Zealand Wildcard Kaitlyn Watts fell just short of replicating Dunbar’s win, losing out to England’s Grace Gear in a back-and-forth five-game duel. World No.40 Gear showed impressive resolve to twice come from behind to defeat the World No.85 by a 7-11, 11-2, 9-11, 11-8, 11-5 scoreline.
Action over at the Christchurch Squash Club saw plenty of drama, with France’s Melvil Scianimanico continuing his recent fine form from the Texas Open with a five-game win over Henry Leung, while Egypt’s Nour Heikal and Ukraine’s Alina Bushma overcame Joshna Chinappa and Alicia Mead by the same scoreline, respectively.
Results
Men’s Round One: Moustafa Elsirty (EGY) bt Freddie Jameson (NZL) 3-1: 11-4, 5-11, 11-9, 11-5 (44m); Melvil Scianimanico (FRA) bt Henry Leung (HKG) 3-2: 9-11, 11-5, 3-11, 11-6, 11-8 (55m); Matias Knudsen (COL) bt Alex Lau (HKG) 3-0: 11-4, 11-9, 11-5 (34m); Iker Pajares (ESP) bt Joseph White (AUS) 3-0: 11-6, 11-6, 11-1 (38m); [WC] Oliver Dunbar (NZL) bt Velavan Senthilkumar (IND) 3-2: 11-8, 11-6, 6-11, 2-11, 11-5 (63m); Yannick Wilhelmi (SUI) bt Sanjay Jeeva (MAS) 3-0: 11-3, 11-6, 11-7 (40m); Patrick Rooney (ENG) bt Ryunosuke Tsukue (JPN) 3-0: 11-3, 11-9, 13-11 (39m); Veer Chotrani (IND) bt Elijah Thomas (NZL) 3-0: 11-2, 11-4, 11-5 (23m)
Women’s Round One: Alina Bushma (UKR) bt Alicia Mead (ENG) 3-2: 11-6, 8-11, 9-11, 11-5, 11-6 (51m); Hollie Naughton (CAN) bt Joelle King (NZL) 3-2: 11-2, 7-11, 8-11, 11-7, 11-8 (50m); Grace Gear (ENG) bt Kaitlyn Watts (NZL) 3-2: 7-11, 11-2, 9-11, 11-8, 11-5 (44m); Tsz-Wing Tong (HKG) bt Ella Jane Lash (NZL) 3-1: 11-7, 10-12, 13-11, 11-5 (45m); Haya Ali (EGY) bt Madison Lyon (AUS) 3-0: 11-2, 11-8, 11-9 (22m); Marie Stephan (FRA) bt Jessica van der Walt (AUS) 3-0: 11-4, 11-4, 11-6 (22m); Nour Heikal (EGY) bt Joshna Chinappa (IND) 3-2: 11-6, 11-4, 8-11, 13-15, 11-6 (45m); Torrie Malik (ENG) bt Cindy Merlo (SUI) 3-1: 11-9, 6-11, 11-6, 11-6 (38m)
