Teen Wildcard Dunbar Sinks Soares As New Zealand Open Gets Underway

Home wildcard Oliver Dunbar produced one of the shocks of the PSA Squash Tour season as the world No.255 stunned Portugal's world No.54 Rui Soares to kick off the 2025 New Zealand Open at the Isaac Theatre Royal in Christchurch.

Despite being ranked more than 200 places below Soares, Dunbar played with no signs of nerves. Instead, the 18-year-old looked assured, taking the game to Soares and moving into the lead with an 11-6 win.

The Portugal No.1 appeared to have thrown cold water over the chances of an upset when the much improved 31-year-old levelled with an 11-7 win in game two, only for the Kiwi to come roaring back in game three, which he dominated 11-3.

The teenager resisted the temptation to go passive in game four, keeping up the attacking game against a stunned Soares.

This tactic proved astute, with Soares' resistance quickly crumbling as Dunbar sent the home crowd into raptures by completing a famous victory by powering through 11-4.

"That's definitely the biggest win of my career. It was great to do that at home, I've got my Dad here and a few club mates came to watch so it's pretty cool," said Dunbar, who will face No.3 seed Eain Yow Ng of Malaysia in round two.

"I came in with no expectations, which helps me play well. There was great support for me from the crowd and I just went out there and tried to keep it simple and play my game."

Dunbar is one of two Kiwis through to the second round; top seed Paul Coll received a first round bye, while wildcards Ella Lash and Anthony Lepper played well but lost out to Malaysia's Ainaa Amani and Spain's Bernat Jaume. Former world No.3 Joelle King, the champion in 2022, struggled with an injury in her match against Malaysia's Aira Azman, with the New Zealand No.1 going down 11-8, 11-7, 11-9 in 25 minutes.

Elsewhere, Malaysian world No.65 Sanjay Jeeva came back from a game down to upset Hong Kong world No.40 Alex Lau, USA's Marina Stefanoni fought back to beat Spain's Marta Dominguez, and Auguste Dussourd came through a five-game epic against French compatriot Edwin Clain.