Calvert keen to improve on previous form at annual Golden Open squash tournament

Queenslander Nicholas Calvert hopes consistent form and a tough lead-up event abroad equates to victory at the region’s premier squash tournament later this month — the annual Cooper Fluid Systems Golden Open.

Calvert has been a regular at the Golden Open in the last few years, but is yet to taste championship success.

The 24-year-old was a late call-up for Australia at last year’s men’s world team championships after previously donning the green-and-gold at the 2023 World Cup and the 2019 World Doubles.

“It’s been the last three or four years that I’ve played there (in Kalgoorlie-Boulder) and my best result has been the semi-finals,” he said.

“But I feel that from the start of this year, I’ve really been playing some of the best squash that I’ve ever played and hopefully that carries over.

“But it’s always very tough competition — especially now because that (record $6000 prizemoney) attracts great players and pretty much ensures a very good international field.

“I’m looking forward to getting stuck in.”

Calvert, who is based on the Gold Coast, will round out preparations for the Golden Open at the Oceania Championships in Auckland.

He is the No.3 seed for the local event, behind Dutchman Rowan Damming and the Czech Republic’s Ondrej Vorlicek.

Damming is ranked No.86 in the world.

“I’ll go straight from Auckland to Kalgoorlie, so it’s going to be a very good lead-up,” Calvert said.

“It is a very well-run event and a tournament that has a very good reputation.”

Melbourne-born Sarah Cardwell, the 2021 Golden Open winner, is the women’s top seed from fellow Australians Madison Lyon and Erin Classen.

Classen is chasing a third successive Golden Open title after she was runner-up to Cardwell in 2021.

For the first time since its inception in 1972, the traditional June long weekend program will this year start on Thursday, May 30, in the afternoon — courtesy of a star-studded Professional Squash Association field chasing a share of $6000 in each of the women’s and men’s divisions.