The 2025-26 PSA World Championships Oceania qualifying event got underway earlier at the Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club in Australia, with 16 players advancing to the quarter-finals as they go in search of golden tickets to the most prestigious event on the PSA Squash Tour calendar.
A flurry of early seeding upsets took place in the men’s event, with No.4 seed Oliver Dunbar, No.6 seed Brandean MacDonald and No.8 seed Tate Norris falling to shock defeats at the hands of Bradley Fullick, David Turner and Connor Hayes.
Australia’s Fullick, 26, produced a superb display to overturn the in-form Oliver Dunbar, who recently enjoyed a strong showing at the New Zealand Open. The World No.227 twice came from behind to defeat the Kiwi by a 6-11, 11-3, 2-11, 11-8, 11-6 scoreline.
Meanwhile, Turner defeated No.6 seed MacDonald with a strong three-game showing, while Hayes downed No.8 seed Norris 9-11, 11-8, 11-8, 7-11, 11-5 after 68 minutes of play.
Elsewhere in the men’s draw, top two seeds Joseph White and Elijah Thomas made strong starts to their campaigns with routine wins over Thomas Scott and Remi Young, respectively.
In the women’s draw, all eight seeded players advanced to the quarter-finals without fail.
The only player out of the top eight seeds to even drop a game was No.1 seed Jessica van der Walt, who held off an impressive showing from Jena Gregory in four games.
Van Der Walt, who has featured at the PSA World Championships on three occasions throughout her career to date, kick-started her quest to make it a fourth showing at the flagship event following an 11-7, 11-7, 14-16, 11-6 win over the New Zealander.
Elsewhere, No.2 Kaitlyn Watts, No.3 seed Madison Lyon, and No.4 seed Ella Jane Lash all claimed dominant three-game wins over Sarbani Maitra, Jasmine Thirst and Amity Alarcos, respectively.
Results: Men’s Round One
[1] Joseph White (AUS) bt Thomas Scott (AUS) 3-0: 11-5, 11-2, 13-11 (45m)Connor Hayes (AUS) bt [8] Tate Norris (AUS) 3-2: 9-11, 11-8, 11-8, 7-11, 11-5 (68m)
David Turner (AUS) bt [6] Brendan MacDonald (AUS) 3-0: 11-6, 11-7, 11-5 (25m)
Bradley Fullick (AUS) bt [4] Oliver Dunbar (NZL) 3-2: 6-11, 11-3, 2-11, 11-8, 11-6 (51m)
[3] Dylan Molinaro (AUS) bt Nicholas Calvert (AUS) 3-1: 8-11, 11-7, 11-5, 11-4 (59m) [5] Lwamba Chileshe (NZL) bt Cameron Darton (AUS) 3-0: 11-7, 11-3, 11-9 (29m) [7] Freddie Jameson (NZL) bt Benjamin Ratcliffe (AUS) 3-2: 7-11, 14-16, 12-10, 11-8, 11-3 (61m) [2] Elijah Thomas (NZL) bt Remi Young (AUS) 3-0: 11-6, 11-6, 11-6 (33m)
Draw: Men’s Quarter-Finals
[1] Joseph White (AUS) v [9/16] Connor Hayes (AUS) [9/16] David Turner (AUS) v [9/16] Bradley Fullick (AUS) [3] Dylan Molinaro (AUS) v [5] Lwamba Chileshe (NZL) [7] Freddie Jameson (NZL) v [2] Elijah Thomas (NZL)
Results: Women’s Round One
[1] Jessica van der Walt (AUS) bt Jena Gregory (NZL) 3-1: 11-7, 11-7, 14-16, 11-6 (37m) [6] Sophie Fadaely (AUS) bt Pascale Louka (AUS) 3-0: 11-6, 11-7, 11-9 (17m) [5] Sarah Cardwell (AUS) bt Maiden-Lee Coe (NZL) 3-0: 11-7, 11-6, 11-7 (21m) [4] Ella Jane Lash (NZL) bt Amity Alarcos (PNG) 3-0: 11-4, 11-2, 11-4 (14m) [3] Madison Lyon (AUS) bt Jasmine Thirst (NZL) 3-0: 11-7, 11-5, 11-7 (19m) [7] Remashree Muniandy (AUS) bt Shona Coxsedge (AUS) 3-0: 11-7, 11-6, 11-8 (21m) [8] Erin Classen (AUS) bt Hannah Slyth (AUS) 3-0: 11-2, 11-6, 11-7 (24m) [2] Kaitlyn Watts (NZL) bt Sarbani Maitra (AUS) 3-0: 11-0, 11-5, 11-6 (20m)
Draw: Women’s Quarter-Finals
