Spain’s Edmon Lopez, who plays Premier League squash for Welsh Wizards, is intent on earning professional success in South Wales.
Lopez, aged 22, is second seed for the Welsh Open Championships at Rhiwbina Squash Club in Cardiff.
Predicted seedings were altered when new World rankings were issued with England’s Richie Fallows, ranked at 56, the new top seed.
Barcelona-born Lopez is at 62, while the other main seeds for the Welsh Open are Rhiwbina SRC member Peter Creed (63) and Frenchman Benjamin Aubert (97).
The Rhiwbina Welsh Open is an $11,000 professional men’s tournament and will run from Tuesday, May 7 until Saturday, 11th May 11.
It is part of the Professional Squash Association Challenger Tour and the 2019 event is third annual tournament hosted by Rhiwbina.
George Parker, who plays out of the West Warwicks Club in the English midlands, and Londoner Fallows, last year, were the first two Welsh Open champions.
Former national and European junior champion Fallows lives in Stratford and discovered squash by watching tournaments at Canary Wharf.
“I can honestly say the reason I became a squash player was because of Canary Wharf,” says Fallows. “Watching those players in that amazing venue made my mind up.”
Fallows overcame Welshman Peter Creed in the Welsh Open final a year ago, having defeated George Parker in the semi-finals.
A sell-out attendance at Rhiwbina SRC were cheering home club player Creed on and Fallows said: “Funnily enough, the noise from the crowd helped me.
“I had a tough game against George before and that also kind of helped me. Against Peter, I knew that every point I won would keep the crowd quiet and I stuck at it.”
Top seed Fallows made his PSA World Tour debut in 2012, winning his maiden title at the 2014 Pilatus Cup in Switzerland.
London-born Fallows’ 2014/15 season drew to a close with a semi-final finish at the Select Gaming Kent Open.
During January 2016 Fallows won the JW Cannon British Under-23 Open Crown with a 3-1 victory over Welshman Joel Makin from Pembrokeshire.
He lifted the Belfast Open crown, beating Lyell Fuller in straight games during the final after he dispatched Joeri Hapers and Yuri Farneti earlier in the tournament.
Fallows overcame Scotland’s Douglas Kempsell in a bruising five-game semi-final tie to set up a final clash with compatriot Fuller as he claimed his second PSA World Tour title.
He has also won the PSA Toulouse, beating Denmark’s Kristian Frost in a three-game final. That success saw Fallows break into the World’s top 60 for the first time in his career.
Fallows now returns to Rhiwbina to defend the title he won a year ago.
Caerphilly-born Creed is one of two Welsh players seeded in the Welsh Open
Rhiwbina Welsh Open $11,000 men’s tournament new seedings:
1 Richie Fallows (England, World ranking 56)
2 Edmon Lopez (Spain, 62)
3 Peter Creed (Wales, 63)
4 Benjamin Aubert (France, 97)
5 Miko Aijanen (Finland, 107)
6 Emyr Evans (Wales, 115)
Purchase your Welsh Open tickets here https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/rhiwbina-squash-club-open
Welsh players Tesni Evans and Joel Makin are competing in the PSA World Tour Platinum event at the El Gouna Squash Complex in Egypt.
Tenth seed Evans, who lives in Rhyl, plays Hollie Naughton from Canada in her second round match on Saturday, while Pembrokeshire’s Joel Makin, from Haverfordwest, has been drawn against Egypt’s Mostafa Asal in the men’s championship on Friday.
The top seeds are both Egyptian with Raneem El Wellily heading the women’s rankings and Ali Farag the man’s number one.