New Zealand will host the largest squash tournament in the country's history when the New Zealand Open – a men's and women's PSA World Tour Silver event – takes place in Tauranga this November.

The event, which will run from November 7-13, is another boost for the sport in the region, with the WSF Men's World Team Squash Championships coming to Tauranga in 2023 after the 2021 edition, also set for the Bay of Plenty, was cancelled due to Covid-19 concerns.

The top-ranked New Zealand players, Paul Coll and Joelle King, will be the star attractions amongst a top-class field that will line up at the Trustpower Arena and battle for the lion's share of the $150,000 USD prize fund.

Greymouth-born Coll has had a terrific past 12 months on tour and became the first male Kiwi ever to go to world number one at the start of this month.

The 29-year-old also became the first man from New Zealand to win the famous Allam British Open trophy in August as well as capturing titles at the Canary Wharf Classic and CIB Squash Open Black Ball.

Coll's form has showed no signs of slowing down after he captured the Windy City Open title on March 2.

Those triumphs saw him nominated for Sportsman of the Year at the recent Halberg Awards.

Meanwhile, Cambridge-born King has also been a trailblazing presence for New Zealand squash and has spent over four successive seasons ranked inside the world's top 10.

Her triumph at the 2018 Hong Kong Open saw her become the first Kiwi in 15 years to win a major PSA World Tour title.

The sponsor for the men's event will be Robertson Lodges, while Barfoot & Thompson will sponsor the women's event. Paul Coll's own Iwi Athletica clothing brand have also signed on as a major sponsor.

'We're excited to add the New Zealand Open to the PSA World Tour calendar for the 2022-23 season,” says PSA chief executive Alex Gough.

'Some of the sport's finest athletes have hailed from New Zealand, with the likes of Dame Susan Devoy, Carol Owens, Leilani Rorani and Ross Norman all capturing major titles in years gone by, while more recently it's been fantastic to see the incredible rise of Paul Coll and Joelle King who have emerged as two of the greatest players of their generation.

'The PSA World Tour already has a strong presence in Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia, and we're delighted to expand our global reach into Oceania too with the staging of the New Zealand Open. We look forward to working with Squash New Zealand and tournament organisers in the coming months and are excited to unveil further plans for the tournament in due course.”

Squash New Zealand chief executive Martin Dowson is excited to see two of New Zealand's top athletes at the same event.

'It will be huge for New Zealand sports fans to watch and appreciate the talents of Paul Coll and Joelle King in person in a quality tournament in their own country,” he says.

'It's remarkable to have two sportspeople ranked inside the top 10 in the world doing so well.

'It's not just squash players who want to see them live. It will be a massive boost to the sport having this prestigious tournament back on the international squash calendar and the New Zealand Open is set to once again be a very sought after event for 2022 and many years to come.”

The New Zealand Open will be shown live on SQUASHTV. Ticketing information will be revealed in due course.

For more information on the tournament, visit the event website www.nzsquashopen.com, or the PSA World Tour website or follow the PSA on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.