Wildcard Lee Spearheads Home Success on Opening Day of Optasia Championships

Tournament Wildcard Charlie Lee led the way for a series of home successes on the opening day of the 2025 Optasia Championships, upsetting German No.1 Raphael Kandra to join five other English players in the second round of the PSA Squash Tour Gold event in Wimbledon.

On the stage where he famously beat both Kandra and Mohamed ElShorbagy as a Wildcard back in 2023, world No.108 Lee was at it again, claiming another superb victory over world No.34 Kandra by an 11-5, 11-7, 11-3 scoreline.

In just his second World Event start since suffering a long-term back injury, Lee displayed the level of squash which had previously seen him climb as high as world No.43 back in September 2023.

The Englishman needed just 32 minutes to wrap up the win in front of a fervent home crowd inside The Wimbledon Club, moving through to set up a tie with No.7 seed Youssef Ibrahim.

After the match, Lee said: "I am glad that last year is behind me now, I had some issues with my back and it went on for a long time. To just be back here playing, I'm enjoying every minute of travelling and playing again.

"To be back on this stage and then to win is a big bonus. I'm just slowly building back now, and I hope I can keep it going."

Elsewhere, England's Curtis Malik and Colombia's Juan Vargas claimed impressive five-game victories on the traditional court, with Vargas fighting back from two games and 8-3 down to defeat Switzerland's Nicolas Mueller in a lengthy deciding game tie-break. Malik, meanwhile, overcame former world No.7 Mohamed Abouelghar to set up a tie with No.3 seed Joel Makin.

In the women's event, Egypt's Mariam Metwally claimed a thrilling five-game victory over home hope Torrie Malik. At 8-3 down in the fifth game, Metwally looked down and out, but the world No.37 recovered admirably to take nine of the next 11 points and seal her anticipated spot in the second round.