Hong Kong Duo Star While Home Hopes Fall On Australian Open Day One

The 2026 Squash Australian Open got underway in Brisbane today, with 32 players battling for places in the second round of the Gold-level event across the stunning all-glass show court at South Bank Piazza and Sandgate Squash Club.

Day one of play saw a host of exciting five-game matches across the two venues, but proved a tough opening day for the home contingent, with all four Australian wildcards falling to strong opposition.

In an evening session featuring all the four Australians on the South Bank Piazza showcourt, in-form duo Melvil Scianimanico and Iker Pajares held off spirited showings from Australian National Champion Joseph White and Melbourne-based Dylan Molinaro, while Hollie Naughton and Ka Yi Lee also overcame Brisbane locals Madison Lyon and Jessica van der Walt in three games, respectively.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong duo Henry Leung and Tomato Ho scored two of the wins of the day, after the pair both launched comebacks from 2/1 down to defeat Velavan Senthilkumar and Joelle King, respectively.

World No.56 Leung once again showed his liking for the Australian Open stage, defeating world No.49 Velavan Senthilkumar by a 5-11, 11-8, 11-13, 11-6, 11-2 margin after 75 minutes of play to record his first Gold-level event win on the PSA Squash Tour since this very event 12 months ago.

"I'm happy to win today," Leung said after the match. "I knew this would be a very tough match."

"In the fourth, I started to get a rhythm and stay in the longer rallies. I felt him start to tire a bit at the end of the fourth game, which gave me more confidence to extend the rallies.

"I will play against Paul Coll tomorrow. I know he just won the New Zealand Open and he is a very strong and physical player. I just want to enjoy the stage."

Elsewhere, Torrie Malik and Matias Knudsen carried over their fine form from last week's New Zealand Open with wins over Cindy Merlo and Alex Lau, while Grace Gear came through a back-and-forth all-England battle with Alicia Mead in five games.