CHRIS SIMPSON has qualified for the richest tournament of the year. The 20-year-old Sarnian secured one of the biggest scalps of his career when he defeated France’s Renan Lavigne in their qualifying final for the Saudi International, taking place in Al Khobar in October.

Simpson, currently ranked number 53 in the world, took 57 minutes to overcome the French number three, who is ranked 20 places higher than the Guernseyman.

The score at St George’s Hill Club in Surrey was 11-6, 2-11, 11-6, 11-4.

‘The Saudi is a really big tournament – it is the biggest cheque of the year. The players all want to go there, you get treated really well, you are on TV, so it is quite an incentive,’ Simpson said.

‘All the top 32 in the world entered and I beat someone who I think was then ranked 30 so that’s going to do my ranking a bit of good.’

The prize fund for the Saudi International main draw, which includes the top 23 players in the world, has been raised this year to $210,000 – the largest on the PSA Tour.

The fact that Simpson made it through qualifying was all the more remarkable by the injury he was carrying – one which had him in surgery almost immediately after the event.

‘I had a sportsman’s hernia for quite a while and I was playing through it because I did not know exactly what it was and it was misdiagnosed a few times.

‘I put off the operation for about a month because I wanted to play in the Saudi qualifiers.

‘The op is a pretty major one, but the physio has said that it was a really good job and he is happy with how my rehab is going. I am going to be back earlier than expected,’ added Simpson, who returns to court in the next couple of days.

He has trained extremely hard during the summer and the victory over Lavigne, which the Sarnian rates as his second best behind beating Canadian Graham Riding, emphasised his continued progression.

‘I’ve had six senior national squad sessions that I have been to in which I have been training with six of the top 20 players in the world. I have learnt a lot from that and I feel I have improved – I certainly shocked Renan when I played him.’

Simpson has also travelled to London on several occasions to train with former world number one Peter Nicol, who does some coaching for Squash England.

The Guernseyman believes his game is seeing the benefits of working with such illustrious names as he seeking to achieve his target for the season.

‘The aim is to be inside the top 30 by this time next year,’ he said.

From now until Christmas his schedule is set to be jam-packed.

The next major event is the British Open, for which qualifying begins on 18 September.

Trips to New York and Budapest are planned before the Saudi International main draw event. Following that, Hong Kong and Bermuda are also on the Simpson agenda.

‘It is tiring but it is better than being in England,’ said the Harrogate-based star of the travelling involved with being a professional sportsman.

‘It is going to be nice to see the sun in places like Saudi, Hong Kong and Bermuda.

‘I am going to do everything I can to be ready for my first tournament back.

‘Others will have been playing warm-up tournaments but it might take me time to get back into it because no matter how hard you train, a tournament match is always a little bit different from a practice one.’