Wild card Joe Lee faces Tarek Momen
By SEAN REUTHE
An array of local talent will be on show at the upcoming Channel VAS Championship at St George’s Hill, with four players set to appear at their home club when the PSA M100 tournament gets under way on Thursday December 8.
Tournament wildcard Joe Lee, the son of promoter Danny Lee, will look to delight his home crowd at the St George’s Hill Lawn Tennis Club when he begins his event against Egypt’s Tarek Momen.
Lee, the World No.47, has narrowly lost his two previous matches against World No.11 Momen by 3-2 margins, but will look to draw on the strength of passionate local support as he aims to cause a big upset in round one.
The qualifying draw – which takes place on December 6-7 – features three other local players, with 30-year-old Tom Richards, who has played at St George’s Hill since he was two years old, World No.174 Tristan Eysele, a former club junior champion, and World No.358 Matthew Broadberry all having ties to the club.
Spain’s Borja Golan and Henrik Mustonen currently play for the the club in the Professional Squash League (PSL), and are included in the draw, while England No.3 and last year’s runner-up Daryl Selby represented the club for 14 years.
The Channel VAS Championship offers the second biggest prize purse in Europe this season, with it’s $100,000 prize fund bettered only by the prestigious British Open, and will see the likes of World No.1 Mohamed ElShorbagy, his brother, World No.6 Marwan, and former World No.1 James Willstrop all compete in a high-quality draw.
Title sponsor Channel VAS has also committed to donating 100 per cent of the ticket sales to children’s charity CLIC Sargent, who offer cancer support for young people.
Tickets for the tournament – the main draw of which takes place between December 8-12 – are priced from £10-£45 and can be booked online here: http://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/ChannelVASSquash
Pictures by PATRICK LAUSON