Dutch and Swedish Pros Win "Riga Cup" Squash Tournament
At the PSA satellite tournament "Riga Cup" in Riga, Sweden's Lovisa Ronge won the women's category while the Netherlands' Samuel Gerrits took the men's title. In total, 52 players from 12 countries competed across six categories.
The PSA satellite squash tournament "Riga Cup" has concluded in Riga, with foreign players claiming the top spots in both professional categories.
Women's category
The women's PSA final featured two Swedish players, with Lovisa Ronge (ranked 292nd on the PSA rankings) winning in five games against the higher-ranked Natalie Malmtrom (268th). The two were the only participants who regularly compete in PSA tournaments and hold a ranking. Experienced Latvian champion L. Gaigala had no trouble securing third place against young Latvian player Anna Belrusa. Seven players started in the women's category, six of whom finished the tournament.
Men's category
Fifteen players competed in the men's PSA category, including six representatives from Latvia — the best result, 9th place, went to Andrejs Sautins. The winner was the Netherlands' Samuel Gerrits (ranked 204th on the PSA rankings), who became the Dutch U23 champion last year and is currently on a break from his studies to pursue his goal of reaching the Olympic Games. The tournament's second seed, Sweden's Joel Wiksten, struggled early on, losing to a player from Mauritius and later to an English opponent, finishing in 7th place. Silver went to a Polish player, and bronze to a player from Mauritius.
"Riga Cup" is a PSA satellite tournament with a prize fund of 1,000 euros per category, with winners in each category receiving 500 euros.
Amateur categories
Medals were also awarded in several amateur groups. In the M1 and 40+ masters category, the winner was Canadian national masters champion David Sley, with Riga resident Rihards Novickis taking second place and Aivis Gailītis third; Gailītis also won silver in the masters category. In the M2 category, Ukraine's Yevgeniy Denisenko was unbeaten, while the M3 category was won by junior player Oliver Felšs, who had claimed third place in the BU13 group at a European junior tournament in Finland just a week earlier.
In total, 52 players from 12 countries — Latvia, Canada, England, Estonia, Lithuania, Mauritius, the Netherlands, Norway, Scotland, Poland, Sweden and Ukraine — competed across six categories.
