Defending Champion Gaultier Pulls Out of Windy City Open

 

Defending champion Gregory Gaultier has pulled out of next week’s Windy City Open presented by the Walter Family & EquiTrust Life Insurance Company after failing to recover from a partial rupture of his adductor.

The Frenchman - who will lose his World No.1 ranking to Egypt’s Mohamed ElShorbagy on March 1 - suffered the injury during January’s J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions and, after withdrawing from the Swedish Open earlier this month, will now miss out on the opportunity to defend his Windy City Open title.

Gaultier’s withdrawal means that ElShorbagy takes the top seeded position, while World No.3 Ali Farag moves up to number two and he will now take on a qualifier.

World No.4 Marwan ElShorbagy replaces Farag as the number three seed and will clash with Hong Kong’s Leo Au, while Mohamed Abouelghar moves up to the number eight seed position and will take on a qualifier.

Frenchman Mathieu Castagnet - whose incredible athleticism saw him go viral after a stunning retrieval against Daryl Selby at the 2016 instalment - moves into the main draw from qualifying and will also line up against a qualifier.

The 2018 Windy City Open will take place between February 22-28 at the University Club of Chicago and has a prize fund of $500,000 split equally among the men’s and women’s draws - a record amount for a PSA World Series tournament.

All matches held on the glass court inside the University Club of Chicago’s Cathedral Hall will be shown live on SQUASHTV (Rest of World) and Eurosport Player (Europe only), while mainstream broadcasters around the world, such as BT Sport, beIN Sports, Fox Sports Australia and Astro, will show action from the semi-finals and finals.

Tickets start from $25 and can be purchased here.

For all the latest news on the Windy City Open, go to www.windycityopen.com or follow the tournament on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram or via Naija Squash Media social media platform

Revised Main Draw – 2018 Men’s Windy City Open presented by the Walter Family & EquiTrust Life Insurance Company

[2] Ali Farag (EGY) v [Qualifier]

Ryan Cuskelly (AUS) v [Qualifier]

Cameron Pilley (AUS) v [Qualifier]

Omar Mosaad (EGY) v [5] Nick Matthew (ENG)

[7] Simon Rösner (GER) v Saurav Ghosal (IND)

Daryl Selby (ENG) v [Qualifier]

James Willstrop (ENG) v [WC] Chris Hanson (USA)

Leo Au (HKG) v [4] Marwan ElShorbagy (EGY)

[3] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) v Borja Golan (ESP)

Diego Elias (PER) v Cesar Salazar (MEX)

Ramy Ashour (EGY) v [Qualifier]

[Qualifier] v [6] Tarek Momen (EGY)

[8] Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY) v [Qualifier]

Paul Coll (NZL) v Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL)

Mathieu Castagnet (FRA) v [Qualifier]

Declan James (ENG) v [1] Mohamed ElShorbagy (EGY)

Main Draw – 2018 Women’s Windy City Open presented by the Walter Family and EquiTrust Life Insurance Company

[1] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) v Dipika Pallikal Karthik (IND)

[Qualifier] v [14] Olivia Blatchford (USA)

[13] Tesni Evans (WAL) v [Qualifier]

[Qualifier] v [7] Nour El Tayeb (EGY)

[8] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) v [WC] Sabrina Sobhy (USA)

[Qualifier] v [11] Annie Au (HKG)

[15] Joshna Chinappa (IND) v Mariam Metwally (EGY)

[Qualifier] v [3] Camille Serme (FRA)

[4] Laura Massaro (ENG) v Donna Urquhart (AUS)

[Qualifier] v [9] Joelle King (NZL)

[12] Amanda Sobhy (USA) v Victoria Lust (ENG)

Salma Hany (EGY) v [5] Nouran Gohar (EGY)

[6] Nicol David (MAS) v Fiona Moverley (ENG)

Joey Chan (HKG) v [10] Alison Waters (ENG)

[16] Emily Whitlock (ENG) v [Qualifier]

[Qualifier] v [2] Raneem El Welily (EGY)