Racquets at ready for some of best

SOME of the highest-ranked male squash players from across Australia are set to converge on Tasmania’s North-West this weekend for the City of Devonport Tasmanian Open.

Squash players from Tasmania, Australia and overseas will compete for ranking points and a piece of the prize pool of about $8500 at the tournament.

Organiser David Mulcahy said it was a talented field, highlighted by some of the best players in the country.

“The top two seeds are Rhys Dowling and Matthew Hopkin, who are both ranked around 100 in the world,” Mulcahy said.

“This year is looking pretty good, we’ve got a few more entries from different countries . . . it’s looking like it should be some really good quality squash and some really good competitive squash being played.”

Fresh from a successful Victorian State Junior Open campaign, Bellerive brothers Jack and Ben Hudson are hoping to quash the opposition at the Devonport Open, which is an amateur event run at the same time as the Tasmanian Open.

A team of about eight Tasmanians went over to Victoria on the weekend, and Jack, 17, won the under-19 competition, while Ben, 14, was runner-up in the under-15 tournament.

Jack was thrilled to come away with a win in Victoria.

“I was seeded second and I expected to do relatively well, but I knew there was a lot of tough competition in the draw so I wasn’t really sure,” he said.

“I ended up playing pretty well and ended up in the final, so that was pretty exciting.”

He is seeded fifth for the Devonport Open, and is hoping to replicate his interstate success.