$1Million BATTLE:PSA World Championships Set for Blockbuster Battles as Draws are Released

This is the highest in the sport's history, so encouraging.
Ashour - who is yet to play this season due to a knee injury - will play Australia’s Ryan Cuskelly in round one. The artist is always starting tough as usual.....

The draws for the 2018/19 PSA World Championships presented by the Walter Family have been announced today, with some blockbuster fixtures in store at Chicago’s Union Station between February 23 - March 2.

128 of the world’s greatest male and female squash players will descend on Chicago for the most prestigious title in squash as they battle for a record prize purse of $1 million, which is the highest in the sport’s history.

Defending men’s champion and current World No.1 Mohamed ElShorbagy has been drawn against England’s Joshua Masters in round one and is featured on the same side of the draw as three-time winner Ramy Ashour.

ElShorbagy and Ashour contested both the 2012 and 2014 finals - both of which are regarded as two of the greatest squash matches of all time - and could potentially meet in the semi-finals.

Ashour - who is yet to play this season due to a knee injury - will play Australia’s Ryan Cuskelly in round one. The Egyptian is unseeded for the first time since the 2006 World Championships and will look to replicate his incredible title victory in 2014, where he came back from a six-month spell on the sidelines to lift the iconic trophy.

World No.2 Ali Farag is seeded on the opposite side of the draw as fellow Egyptians ElShorbagy and Ashour and he will take on England’s Daryl Selby in round one. Farag has the likes of Peru’s Diego Elias and New Zealand’s Paul Coll in his path to the final, while he is predicted to play World No.3 Simon Rösner in the semi-finals.

Reigning women’s World Champion Raneem El Welily begins her tournament against South Africa’s Alexandra Fuller as she bids to continue her strong start to the season, which has seen her take two PSA titles so far.

The 30-year-old was thwarted in the final of this tournament in 2014 and 2016, but finally got her hands on the trophy in December 2017 courtesy of a 3-1 victory against two-time winner Nour El Sherbini in Manchester.

12 months later, El Welily ended El Sherbini’s 31-month reign at World No.1 and the Egyptian duo - who contested six PSA finals last season - are seeded to do battle in the title decider once again.

El Welily is predicted to meet World No.3 Nour El Tayeb in the semi-finals, but El Tayeb must come through a difficult draw which contains 2013 World Champion Laura Massaro if she is to play to her seeding.

Meanwhile, El Sherbini begins her tournament against Satomi Watanabe of Japan and is predicted to play United States No.1 Amanda Sobhy in a mouthwatering third round fixture.

Eight-time World Champion Nicol David will be looking to add to her record haul but is seeded to play World No.5 Camille Serme as early as the third round. The Malaysian will need to end a two-match losing streak to the French player if she is to progress into the latter rounds.

New Zealand’s Joelle King will also be one of the frontrunners for the women’s title. The World No.4 claimed her first PSA Platinum title in November’s Hong Kong Open and is seeded to go head-to-head with El Sherbini for a place in the final.

In addition to prize winnings totalling over $72,000, the winner of the World Championships will also qualify for the season-ending PSA World Tour Finals, which pits together the reigning World Champions and all seven PSA World Tour Platinum winners.

The 2018/19 PSA World Championships will take place at Chicago’s Union Station, while matches from rounds one and two will also be held at MetroSquash and the University Club of Chicago.

Matches from Union Station will be shown live on SQUASHTV (rest of world) and Eurosport Player (Europe only), while the semi-finals and finals will also be shown live on mainstream broadcast channels around the world, including BT Sport, Fox Sports Australia and Astro.

Tickets are priced from $30 and are available for purchase on Ticketmaster.

For more information on the 2018/19 PSA World Championships, follow the tournament on Twitter, Facebook or the event's website.

2018/19 PSA World Championships presented by the Walter Family – Men’s Draw
[1] Mohamed ElShorbagy (EGY) v Joshua Masters (ENG)
Cesar Salazar (MEX) v Arturo Salazar (MEX)
Campbell Grayson (NZL) v Nathan Lake (ENG)
Leo Au (HKG) v [15] Raphael Kandra (GER)
[16] James Willstrop (ENG) v Ivan Yuen (MAS)
Tayyab Aslam (PAK) v Victor Crouin (FRA)
Alan Clyne (SCO) v Daniel Mekbib (CZE)
[Pre-Qualifier] v [6] Miguel Rodriguez (COL)
[8] Marwan ElShorbagy (EGY) v Mathieu Castagnet (FRA)
Gregoire Marche (FRA) v Greg Lobban (SCO)
Youssef Ibrahim (EGY) v Nicolas Mueller (SUI)
Ramy Ashour (EGY) v [14] Ryan Cuskelly (AUS)
[9] Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY) v Declan James (ENG)
Shahjahan Khan (PAK) v Chris Simpson (ENG)
Tom Richards (ENG) v George Parker (ENG)
Todd Harrity (USA) v [4] Tarek Momen (EGY)
[3] Simon Rösner (GER) v Omar Mosaad (EGY)
Vikram Malhotra (IND) v Richie Fallows (ENG)
Borja Golan (ESP) v Rex Hedrick (AUS)
Ben Coleman (ENG) v [12] Max Lee (HKG)
[11] Saurav Ghosal (IND) v Dimitri Steinmann (SUI)
Karim El Hammamy (EGY) v Lucas Serme (FRA)
Joel Makin (WAL) v Tsz Fung Yip (HKG)
Youssef Soliman (EGY) v [5] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY)
[7] Paul Coll (NZL) v Karim Ali Fathi (EGY)
Christopher Binnie (JAM) v Cameron Pilley (AUS)
Mohamed Reda (EGY) v Nafiizwan Adnan (MAS)
Eain Yow Ng (MAS) v [13] Fares Dessouky (EGY)
[10] Diego Elias (PER) v Adrian Waller (ENG)
Zahed Salem (EGY) v Mazen Hesham (EGY)
Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi (QAT) v Mostafa Asal (EGY)
Daryl Selby (ENG) v [2] Ali Farag (EGY)

2018/19 PSA World Championships presented by the Walter Family – Women’s Draw
[1] Raneem El Welily (EGY) v Alexandra Fuller (RSA)
Lee Ka Yi (HKG) v [17] Hania El Hammamy (EGY)
[26] Nadine Shahin (EGY) v Low Wee Wern (MAS)
Tinne Gilis (BEL) v [9] Alison Waters (ENG)
[15] Victoria Lust (ENG) v Danielle Letourneau (CAN)
Anna Serme (CZE) v [21] Emily Whitlock (ENG)
[25] Fiona Moverley (ENG) v Lucy Turmel (ENG)
Menna Hamed (EGY) v [8] Nouran Gohar (EGY)
[7] Laura Massaro (ENG) v Amanda Landers-Murphy (NZL)
Coline Aumard (FRA) v [28] Nele Gilis (BEL)
[30] Rowan Elaraby (EGY) v Nicole Bunyan (CAN)
Nikki Todd (CAN) v [12] Annie Au (HKG)
[16] Salma Hany (EGY) v Tsz-Wing Tong (HKG)
Melissa Alves (FRA) v [29] Samantha Cornett (CAN)
[31] Zeina Mickawy (EGY) v Haley Mendez (USA)
Rachel Arnold (MAS) v [3] Nour El Tayeb (EGY)
[4] Joelle King (NZL) v Heba El Torky (EGY)
Ho Tze-Lok (HKG) v [23] Mayar Hany (EGY)
[18] Joey Chan (HKG) v Sarah Cardwell (AUS)
Ineta Mackevica (LAT) v [14] Joshna Chinappa (IND)
[13] Nicol David (MAS) v [Pre-Qualifier]
Olivia Fiechter (USA) v [24] Millie Tomlinson (ENG)
[27] Rachael Grinham (AUS) v Lisa Aitken (SCO)
Jenny Duncalf (ENG) v [5] Camille Serme (FRA)
[6] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) v Vanessa Chu (HKG)
Enora Villard (FRA) v [20] Yathreb Adel (EGY)
[32] Nada Abbas (EGY) v Liu Tsz-Ling (HKG)
Milou van der Heijden (NED) v [10] Tesni Evans (WAL)
[11] Amanda Sobhy (USA) v Julianne Courtice (ENG)
Hollie Naughton (CAN) v [19] Olivia Blatchford Clyne (USA)
[22] Mariam Metwally (EGY) v Christine Nunn (AUS)
Satomi Watanabe (JPN) v [2] Nour El Sherbini (EGY)

Egypt’s Tarek Momen wins thrilling final against Dessouky to clinch CCI International title

Top seed and world number four Tarek Momen on Saturday clinched the title in the $70,000 CCI International JSW Indian Squash Circuit in Mumbai after subduing fellow Egyptian Fares Dessouky 3-2 in a pulsating final.

Momen got the better of his fourth-seeded compatriot after a prolonged battle lasting 80 minutes, coming out triumphant with a 11-7, 7-11, 12-10, 10-12, 11-7 scoreline.

The title-triumph fetched Momen, who had beaten India’s Ramit Tandon in the semi final on Friday, USD 12,183, while Dessouky, who has returned to pro squash after a 14-month absence due to a knee injury, received the runner-up prize of USD 7,695.

Dessouky, who overcame Englishman and former world number 1 James Willstrop in the other semi final, fought tooth and nail against the fancied Momen, but the latter held off his challenge with determination to emerge champion.

Momen, in fact, saved three game-balls in the fourth game to catch his rival at 10-all before Dessauky, whose career highest ranking was 8, clinched it over extra points.

The top seed, however, took a handy 7-4 lead in the deciding game and then controlled things well to take it and the match at the Cricket Club of India.

Lagos squash association focuses on grassroots development

Tomi Falase, Chairman, Lagos state Squash Association, on Sunday said that the association’s focus would be mainly on grassroots development of the sport this year. Squash Falase said in Lagos that the development of squash at the professional level was hinged on its growth at the grassroots. He said that the grassroots development of the game was aimed at its long-term goal.
“Our focus is to ensure that we as a body do our utmost best to ensure that we have a sustainable grassroots developmental programme that will ensure that we catch them young. “It is important that we focus on that cadre at the moment so that we do not suffer a drought of top class players in years to come. “We want to ensure continuity and a seamless transition of players from one level to another,’’ the chairman said. Falase, however, noted that in as much as the association was concerned about the grassroots development, periodic training and assessment would also be important for coaches. “We understand the fact that a player is as good as his or her coach, therefore, we intend to re-educate and also reorientate the custodians of these young players. “The truth is that we have very talented coaches here and sincerely we appreciate what they have done so far for Lagos State, but we definitely can do more as a family,’’ he said. The chairman also said that because of the forthcoming 2019 elections, the associations’ programmes would kick-off at the end of the first quarter. “Our programme is ready, though we are not ready to let the cat out of the bag yet, but by ending of March, when the election must have being winding up, we will start our programmes. “A little diversion from what we had last year is that we are including a lot of junior championships, we are still deliberating on the time frame,” Falase said. He urged parents and guardians to ensure that their children and wards choose a vocation like playing the game because of the discipline the sport instills in the players. (NAN)

Pakistan Squash team off to Thailand

Pakistan junior squash team reached Thailand for participation in 19th Asian Junior Squash Team Championship, being held at Pattaya (Thailand) from 16 to 20. Pakistan team comprised Abbas Zeb, Haris Qasim, Farhan Hashmi and Muhammad Hamza Khan. Group Captain Tahir Sultan and Hussain Ohwani would accompany the team as Managers and Fazal Shah is nominated as coach. A group of 13 teams from Asia have confirmed their participation in the Championship. The participating teams have been divided into four pools. Pakistan team has been seeded No 1 and is placed in Pool-A with Sri Lanka and Chinese Taipie. Malaysia, Japan and China are placed in Pool-B whereas Hong Kong, Singapore and Kuwait have been included in Pool-C. The Pool-D comprises of India, Korea, Iraq and Thailand.

Defending champion Mohamed ElShorbagy heads Canary Wharf Squash Classic draw

World No.1 Mohamed ElShorbagy will return to London’s stunning East Wintergarden between March 10-15 as he aims to defend his Citigold Wealth Management Canary Wharf Classic title.

ElShorbagy, the reigning men’s World Champion, prevailed in a marathon five-game battle with compatriot Tarek Momen in last year’s final to mark his first appearance at the tournament in five years and the pair will once again return to battle for the PSA World Tour Gold title in March.

A top-class draw will compete for the prestigious title, including Germany’s World No.3 Simon Rösner and New Zealand’s World No.7 Paul Coll, the latter of whom reached the semi-finals of this tournament in 2016.

Also involved is World No.8 Marwan ElShorbagy, Hong Kong’s Max Lee, Egypt’s Fares Dessouky and Australia’s Ryan Cuskelly, who complete the top eight seedings.

England No.1 James Willstrop heads up the home interest and will look to add to his four Canary Wharf Classic titles, with the most recent of those coming in 2013.

The 35-year-old will be joined by fellow Englishmen Daryl Selby, Tom Richards, Declan James and rising Yorkshireman Sam Todd. Todd takes the wildcard spot and the 15-year-old will look to build on a runner-up finish at the British Junior Open last week.

A best-of-three games scoring format will be trialled at the tournament for a second year in succession. First round, second round and quarter-final matches will be played using the format, while the semi-finals and finals will revert to the traditional best-of-five games scoring.

Tickets are now sold out, but action from every match will be shown live on Eurosport Player.

SPO-SQUASH-MANGAONKAR

Tandon in semis, but Mangonkar knocked out
    Mumbai, Jan 10 (PTI) National champion Mahesh
Mangaonkar was knocked out of the USD 70,000 CCI International
JSW Indian Squash Circuit by former world number one James
Willstrop of England here Thursday.
    World no. 66 Mangaonkar gave Willstrop, seeded fifth
in the tournament with a current world ranking of 16, some
tough time before going down in the quarter-finals in four
games, 3-11, 16-18, 11-8, 9-11 after a prolonged fight for
supremacy lasting 67 minutes.
    Mangaonkar's exit meant that only 26-year-old former
junior national champion Ramit Tandon from India is left in
the semi-final draw.
    Tandon, ranked 68th in the world, entered the last
four for the second successive time in the PSA event when
defending champion and world no. 12 Saurav Ghosal pulled out
from their quarter-final match due to a calf injury that he
had sustained Wednesday.
    The third-seeded former multiple-time national
champion and the tournaments third seed had secured a 3-1 win
over Egypts Mohamed Reda on way to the last eight Wednesday
night.
    But the victory became bitter-sweet as Ghosal couldnt
continue in the tournament and withdrew from the draw.
    The Kolkata-based Tandon thus gained a walkover and a
place in the semi-finals andagainst the no. 1 seed Tarek
Momen of Egypt.
    Momen, the world no. 4, quelled the strong challenge
from Spains Iker Pajares Bernabeu after a 65-minute battle.
The former won 11-8, 11-9, 8-11, 11-7 in the quarter-final.
PTI SSR
RSY RSY

World No.1 ElShorbagy to Defend Citigold Wealth Management Canary Wharf Classic Crown

World No.1 Mohamed ElShorbagy will return to London’s stunning East Wintergarden between March 10-15 as he aims to defend his Citigold Wealth Management Canary Wharf Classic title.

ElShorbagy, the reigning men’s World Champion, prevailed in a marathon five-game battle with compatriot Tarek Momen in last year’s final to mark his first appearance at the tournament in five years and the pair will once again return to battle for the PSA World Tour Gold title in March.

A top-class draw will compete for the prestigious title, including Germany’s World No.3 Simon Rösner and New Zealand’s World No.7 Paul Coll, the latter of whom reached the semi-finals of this tournament in 2016.

Also involved is World No.8 Marwan ElShorbagy, Hong Kong’s Max Lee, Egypt’s Fares Dessouky and Australia’s Ryan Cuskelly, who complete the top eight seedings.

England No.1 James Willstrop heads up the home interest and will look to add to his four Canary Wharf Classic titles, with the most recent of those coming in 2013.

The 35-year-old will be joined by fellow Englishmen Daryl Selby, Tom Richards, Declan James and rising Yorkshireman Sam Todd. Todd takes the wildcard spot and the 15-year-old will look to build on a runner-up finish at the British Junior Open last week.

FX Counsellor and Captain of the Citi ‘A’ squash team in the Citigold Wealth Management Corporate Squash Challenge, Alex O’Mahony, said: "We are really looking forward to watching such a strong line-up compete for the title and are proud to be sponsoring the prestigious Citigold Wealth Management Canary Wharf Squash Classic."

A best-of-three games scoring format will be trialled at the tournament for a second year in succession. First round, second round and quarter-final matches will be played using the format, while the semi-finals and finals will revert to the traditional best-of-five games scoring.

More information on the Citigold Canary Wharf Classic can be found on the tournament website or by following the event on Twitter.

Tickets are now sold out, but action from every match will be shown live on SQUASHTV (Rest of World) and Eurosport Player. The semi-finals and final will also be broadcast on BT Sport, Fox Sports Australia, Astro and more.

2019 Citigold Wealth Management Canary Wharf Classic - Entry List
1) Mohamed ElShorbagy (EGY)
2) Simon Rösner (GER)
3) Tarek Momen (EGY)
4) Paul Coll (NZL)
5) Marwan ElShorbagy (EGY)
6) Max Lee (HKG)
7) Fares Dessouky (EGY)
8) Ryan Cuskelly (AUS)
9) Raphael Kandra (GER)
10) James Willstrop (ENG)
11) Omar Mosaad (EGY)
12) Daryl Selby (ENG)
13) Tom Richards (ENG)
14) Declan James (ENG)
15) Joel Makin (WAL)
16) Mathieu Castagnet (FRA)
17) Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi (QAT)
18) Cameron Pilley (AUS)
19) Greg Lobban (SCO)
20) Gregoire Marche (FRA)
21) Borja Golan (ESP)
22) George Parker (ENG)
23) Mazen Hesham (EGY)
Wildcard) Sam Todd (ENG)

US Star Sobhy ‘Back at Full Force’ Ahead of J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions

United States No.1 Amanda Sobhy will return to New York’s Grand Central Terminal next week as she competes for the J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions, PSA Platinum title - and the 25-year-old says she’s back at full fitness as she aims to become the first American-born player ever to win the famous trophy.

Harvard-graduate Sobhy made her comeback from a ruptured achilles at this tournament last January after a 10-month absence and spent much of 2018 working her way back up the rankings having dropped from a career-high World No.6 ranking to No.28.



Sobhy, who now sits at No.11 in the world, says that she is back to her best this time around and is hoping that some strong performances in New York will help her break back into the top 10.



"Making my PSA debut at the Tournament of Champions last year after being out for 10 months was an emotional rollercoaster for me," said Boston-based Sobhy.



"It was a combo of extreme happiness and joy to be back playing again and doing what I love. [It went from having] a ton of nerves, doubt, and fear of being out for so long and whether or not I’d be able to perform at that top level again, to finally just wanting to cry because of everything I went through and how hard me and my team worked to get me back playing at the professional level again. It was a lot.



"The biggest challenge was getting over the fear of injuring myself again or the mental fear of going all out in the movement that ruptured my achilles. It’s always something I will need to address, whether it’s physically paying more attention to my left leg or mentally getting over the trauma of the injury, but the more I play, the easier it gets.



"I’ve definitely set some goals for myself this year since now I am no longer testing out the waters and regaining the confidence. I am back in full force and looking to get back in the single digits this year and cause some upsets. It should be a good time."



Sobhy reached the final of this tournament in 2016 - losing to World No.2 Nour El Sherbini in the final - and she is hoping that a partizan home crowd will help inspire her to even greater heights this time around.



"Starting the year off with my favourite tournament on tour is always exciting for me," she said.



"Not only is it in such an iconic venue, it’s also on home soil, so I love having the boisterous, rowdy New York crowd supporting me."



Sohhy receives a bye through to the last 32 and will come up against either Canada’s Samantha Cornett or Danielle Letourneau. A win there will see the American clash with 2018 runner-up Nour El Tayeb and she will look to replicate the kind of form that saw her beat the World No.3 in October’s U.S. Open.



The women’s event at the Tournament of Champions takes place between January 18-24. A men’s tournament - featuring stars such as defending champion Simon Rösner, World No.1 Mohamed ElShorbagy and Colombia's Miguel Rodriguez - begins two days earlier.



This year's Tournament of Champions is the second most lucrative tournament on the PSA Tour during the 2018/19 season and features a $360,000 prize purse, which is split equally between the men’s and women’s tournament.



More information on the event can be found by following the tournament

on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or the tournament website.

Tickets start from $10 and can be purchased here.

Defending Champions ElShorbagy and El Welily Named Top Seeds for 2018/19 PSA World Championships

Reigning champions Mohamed ElShorbagy and Raneem El Welily will top the seedings for the 2018/19 PSA World Championships presented by the Walter Family when the sport’s first $1 million tournament takes place in Chicago’s Union Station between February 23 - March 2.

The World Championships is the most illustrious tournament on the PSA Tour calendar and will bring together 128 of the world’s greatest squash players as they battle for the most lucrative prize purse in the history of the sport, with $500,000 on offer across both the men’s and women’s draws thanks to the support of Mark and Kimbra Walter of Chicago.

Over 25 nations will be represented in Chicago and Egypt’s World No.1 ElShorbagy tops the men’s draw. The 27-year-old from Alexandria defeated younger brother Marwan in Manchester back in December 2017 to lift the iconic title for the first time and he will look to become just the third Egyptian ever to become a multiple World Champion after Amr Shabana and Ramy Ashour.

ElShorbagy will be joined in the draw by Qatar Classic champion Ali Farag, Tournament of Champions winner Simon Rösner, World No.4 Tarek Momen, 2016 World Champion Karim Abdel Gawad, British Open champion Miguel Rodriguez, World No.7 Paul Coll and Marwan ElShorbagy, who complete the top eight seedings.

Also involved in the draw is three-time champion Ramy Ashour - whose win over Mohamed ElShorbagy in the 2014 final is revered as one of the sport’s greatest ever matches - while 2010 runner-up James Willstrop and 2015 finalist Omar Mosaad are also included. Frenchman Gregory Gaultier - who beat Mosaad in the 2015 final - misses out due to a knee injury.

After final defeats in 2014 and 2016, El Welily finally got her hands on the coveted title with victory over two-time winner Nour El Sherbini back in December 2017 and the pair will be joined in the draw by compatriot Nour El Tayeb, who won the Windy City Open in Chicago last March.

The rest of the top eight seeds comprise of Hong Kong Open champion Joelle King, France’s Camille Serme, English duo Sarah-Jane Perry and Laura Massaro, and Egyptian Nouran Gohar.

Legendary Malaysian Nicol David is also involved and will look to add to her haul of eight World Championship titles, which is unmatched in the women's game.

US interest comes in the form of World No.11 Amanda Sobhy, World No.19 Olivia Blatchford Clyne, World No.42 Haley Mendez and World No.57 Olivia Fiechter.

Meanwhile, World No.48 Todd Harrity will have US hopes on his shoulders in the men's event.

The winners of the E.M. Noll Classic, PSA Challenger event - which takes place in February - will also qualify for the World Championships, while the final place in the women's draw will be allocated in due course

In addition to prize winnings totalling over $72,000, the winner of the World Championships will also qualify for the season-ending PSA World Tour Finals, which pits together the reigning World Champions and all seven PSA World Tour Platinum winners.

The 2018/19 PSA World Championships will take place at Chicago’s Union Station on a specially erected exhibition glass court, while matches from the earlier rounds will also be held at MetroSquash and the University Club of Chicago.

Tickets are priced from just $30 and are available for purchase on Ticketmaster.

For more information on the 2018/19 PSA World Championships, follow the tournament on Twitter, Facebook or the event's website.

2018/19 PSA World Championships - Men’s Entry List
1) Mohamed ElShorbagy (EGY)
2) Ali Farag (EGY)
3) Simon Rösner (GER)
4) Tarek Momen (EGY)
5) Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY)
6) Miguel Rodriguez (COL)
7) Paul Coll (NZL)
8) Marwan ElShorbagy (EGY)
9) Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY)
10) Diego Elias (PER)
11) Saurav Ghosal (IND)
12) Max Lee (HKG)
13) Fares Dessouky (EGY
14) Ryan Cuskelly (AUS)
15) Raphael Kandra (GER)
16) James Willstrop (ENG)
17) Omar Mosaad (EGY)
18) Nicolas Mueller (SUI)
19) Daryl Selby (ENG)
20) Tom Richards (ENG)
21) Declan James (ENG)
22) Tsz Fung Yip (HKG)
23) Joel Makin (WAL)
24) Ramy Ashour (EGY)
25) Zahed Salem (EGY)
26) Leo Au (HKG)
27) Mathieu Castagnet (FRA)
28) Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi (QAT)
29) Cameron Pilley (AUS)
30) Cesar Salazar (MEX)
31) Greg Lobban (SCO)
32) Gregoire Marche (FRA)
33) Borja Golan (ESP)
34) George Parker (ENG)
35) Youssef Soliman (EGY)
36) Nafiizwan Adnan (MAS)
37) Mazen Hesham (EGY)
38) Chris Simpson (ENG)
39) Adrian Waller (ENG)
40) Eain Yow Ng (MAS)
41) Lucas Serme (FRA)
42) Campbell Grayson (NZL)
43) Arturo Salazar (MEX)
44) Mostafa Asal (EGY)
45) Ivan Yuen (MAS)
46) Alan Clyne (SCO)
47) Karim Ali Fathi (EGY)
48) Todd Harrity (USA)
49) Ben Coleman (ENG)
50) Nathan Lake (ENG)
51) Karim El Hammamy (EGY)
52) Joshua Masters (ENG)
53) Mohamed Reda (EGY)
54) Tayyab Aslam (PAK)
55) Rex Hedrick (AUS)
56) Richie Fallows (ENG)
57) Vikram Malhotra (IND)
58) Dimitri Steinmann (SUI)
59) Shahjahan Khan (PAK)
60) Youssef Ibrahim (EGY)
61) Christopher Binnie (JAM)
62) Daniel Mekbib (CZE)
63) TBC - Place goes to winner of E.M. Noll Classic
64) Victor Crouin (FRA)

2018/19 PSA World Championships - Women’s Entry List
1) Raneem El Welily (EGY)
2) Nour El Sherbini (EGY)
3) Nour El Tayeb (EGY)
4) Joelle King (NZL)
5) Camille Serme (FRA)
6) Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG)
7) Laura Massaro (ENG)
8) Nouran Gohar (EGY)
9) Alison Waters (ENG)
10) Tesni Evans (WAL)
11) Amanda Sobhy (USA)
12) Annie Au (HKG)
13) Nicol David (MAS)
14) Joshna Chinappa (IND)
15) Victoria Lust (ENG)
16) Salma Hany (EGY)
17) Hania El Hammamy (EGY)
18) Joey Chan (HKG)
19) Olivia Blatchford Clyne (USA)
20) Yathreb Adel (EGY)
21) Emily Whitlock (ENG)
22) Mariam Metwally (EGY)
23) Mayor Hany (EGY)
24) Millie Tomlinson (ENG)
25) Fiona Moverley (ENG)
26) Nadine Shahin (EGY)
27) Rachael Grinham (AUS)
28) Nele Gilis (BEL)
29) Samantha Cornett (CAN)
30) Rowan Elaraby (EGY)
31) Zeina Mickawy (EGY)
32) Nada Abbas (EGY)
33) Coline Aumard (FRA)
34) Milou van der Heijden (NED)
35) Hollie Naughton (CAN)
36) Liu Tsz-Ling (HKG)
37) Danielle Letourneau (CAN)
38) Julianne Courtice (ENG)
39) Amanda Landers-Murphy (NZL)
40) Haley Mendez (USA)
41) Alexandra Fuller (RSA)
42) Tinne Gilis (BEL)
43) Low Wee Wern (MAS)
44) Christine Nunn (AUS)
45) Jenny Duncalf (ENG)
46) Ho Tze-Lok (HKG)
47) Heba El Torky (EGY)
48) Rachel Arnold (MAS)
49) Tsz-Wing Tong (HKG)
50) Vanessa Chu (HKG)
51) Lucy Turmel (USA)
52) Lisa Aitken (SCO)
53) Nikki Todd (CAN)
54) Olivia Fiechter (USA)
55) Lee Ka Yi (HKG)
56) Enora Villard (FRA)
57) Nicole Bunyan (CAN)
58) Menna Hamed (EGY)
59) Ineta Mackevica (LAT)
60) Melissa Alves (FRA)
61) Anna Serme (CZE)
62) TBC - Place goes to winner of E.M. Noll Classic
63) TBC - Place will be allocated in due course
64) Sarah Cardwell (AUS)

Tickets on Sale for DPD Open

Tickets for the 2019 DPD Open - the PSA World Tour Gold tournament set to take place in the Netherlands between April 9-14 - are now on general sale.

Staged at the new DPD Netherlands headquarters in Eindhoven, the DPD Open will bring together 48 of the world’s top male and female squash players.

With a $212,000 prize fund up for grabs, the tournament will be the second biggest PSA Tour event to take place in Europe during the 2018/19 season and the prize money will be split equally between the men’s and women’s draws.

"We are looking forward to welcoming the world’s best players to the Netherlands and would like to thank DPD for their support," said Tournament Promoter Tom Lucas.

"We are anticipating a top-class draw and hope squash fans can join us in Eindhoven for what promises to be an exciting week of squash."

Tickets for the DPD Open are available for purchase through Ticketmaster.

For more information, follow the tournament on Facebook and Instagram or visit the event’s website.

The entry list for the tournament will be announced at the beginning of March.

Squash court Facts and Oddities

Several generations have played squash to different levels and gone on to retire without giving a thought to the history of squash court that takes beatings from the black rubber ball which travels at 160km per hour or withstands players weight when they support themselves during rallies or occasionally, scratches from our racket bumper/guards.

One of the most ignored part of squash, is the building itself called *squash court* that we play on.

Courts are only talked about when commentators for squash Tv like Joey Barrington, a former world top player, praises some magnificent all round glass wall displayed at tournament venues in England, Egypt, Qatar, New York etc.

According to World Squash Federation (WSF) figures. There are over 50,000 squash courts and about 20 million squash players worldwide.

For instance, England is regarded as the number 1 squash playing nation because there are approximately 8,500 squash courts and 500,000 players.

With 50,000 squash courts worldwide, the history of the courts are always ignored when it comes to squash narratives. Emphasis are always on record broken by players, cash prizes etc.

The first recorded instance of a building made specially for Squash was in 1864 at Harrow, England when four courts were erected. These were built on the site of the previous open-roofed "ad-hoc" courts.

The first ever privately owned Squash court was built by a former Harrow pupil, Vernon Harcourt, in Oxford in 1883.

The first recorded Squash court in the USA was built by the Philadelphia Racket Club in 1891.

The first attempt to standardise the size of the international squash court was by the Tennis and Rackets Association (UK) in 1909.  It failed.

A successful attempt to standardise courts was made in 1925 by the Tennis and Rackets Association.  The following were the dimensions chosen:

Length  32 feet
Breadth  21 feet
Height of front wall line 15 feet
Height of back wall line  7 feet
Distance of short line from front wall 18 feet
Height of cut line on front wall     6 feet
Height of board from ground     19 inches

Note:  *None of these dimensions have changed in a modern court, some 94 years later.(2019)*

The first glass backwall to be installed was at the Abbeydale Club, Sheffield, England in October 1969 by Ellis Pearson Ltd.

The first use of a portable court for a major championship was in September, 1978 in Kings Hall, Stockholm, Sweden on the occasion of the Swedish leg of the PIA World Series.  Perstop Ltd. erected a
prefabricated court with a glass back wall in the arena.  Some 600 people watched the final.
Credit: squash court information

Jansher for revival of CM, Governor KP Int’l Squash

Former world squash champion, who ruled the world of squash for consecutively 10 years, Jansher Khan held an important meeting with Nazim Peshawar Muhammad Asim Khan and underlined the need for the revival of international tournaments like KP Chief Minister and Governor KP International Squash Tournaments here.

Member Provincial Assembly Malik Wajid, international squash coach Mehboob Khan and former squash Pakistan No 1 Amjad Khan were also present on the occasion. Jansher Khan remained there for some time and discussed in details ways and means for the revival of international tournaments in Peshawar.

Nazim Peshawar Muhammad Asim Khan paid great tribute to Jansher, who made the country proud in the world of squash. He termed Jansher as pride for the nation and expressed the hope that he would continue his efforts for the promotion of the game in the province in particular and in the country in general.

He said the services of Jansher for the country will be remembered forever. He also assured the squash legend for resumption of squash in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the country by pertinent measures and sincere efforts at district and provincial level by launching squash academies and promoting squash activities to develop a trend of playing squash.

On the eagerness of Jansher, Nazim Peshawar assured him their maximum cooperation to resume Governor KP and Chief Minister KP Squash International Tournaments in the province. They hoped that with the cooperation of PTI, these tournaments will be restored very soon. In fact, it will bring forth the trend of playing squash in children and eventually the great players like Jansher will emerge, who will make the province KP, country and nation proud in the whole world.

Jansher appreciated M Asim Khan and Malik Wajid for taking interest in squash and paid them attribute for encouraging and supporting the players of KP. Jansher offered his services to train and pass on his vast knowledge to the youngsters. “It is my dream to witness champions like me and others, who had carry-forwarded green flag world over and remained undisputed kings of squash for decades.

“It hurts to see not a single Pakistani player in PSA top 10 rankings and not event winning PSA ordinary tournaments. In our playing days, we had galaxy of titles and we had collected all the major championships. The time can be reversed, but only by putting in sincere efforts, ensuring new generation not only take part in playing squash, but also pursue squash as career.

“To become a world champion is not a tough task, as it just needs passion, commitment, devotion and hard work. Pakistan is blessed with immense amount of raw talent but the only need is to encourage the youth and provide them with modern-day training, international exposure and maximum PSA tournaments, which will help them regain lost squash glory for Pakistan,” he added.

CCI INTERNATIONAL 2019: TOURNAMENT PREVIEW

The CCI International PSA Silver tournament gets under way tomorrow in Mumbai, India with a host of top players in action when the men’s event takes place from January 8 – 12.

The tournament will be held at the Cricket Club of India and will see a high-quality draw, led by Egypt’s World No.4 Tarek Momen, battle it out for the title in Mumbai.

Momen is seeded on the same side of the draw as defending champion and home favourite Saurav Ghosal, Switzerland’s World No.18 and last year’s runner-up Nicolas Mueller and England’s World No.20 Tom Richards.



The World No.4 is currently playing the best squash of his career, having risen to a career-high in the World Rankings and capturing his biggest title to date at this season’s Channel VAS Championships at St George’s Hill.

Momen, along with the other top eight seeds, receives a bye into the second round and will face either compatriot Youssef Ibrahim or Welshman Peter Creed for a place in the last eight.

Seeded at the opposite end of the draw is fellow Egyptian Marwan ElShorbagy, who will be competing in his first tournament of the 2018/19 season. ElShorbagy is seeded to meet compatriot Fares Dessouky in the semi-finals – who also makes his return to the PSA World Tour after a serious injury ruled him out for action for over a year.

World No.8 ElShorbagy will first have to navigate his way through a draw that also contains the likes of England’s former World No.1 James Willstrop and former World No.3 Omar Mosaad.

Home interest comes in the form of defending champion and World No.12 Ghosal, who will face either Egypt’s Mohamed Reda or Switzerland’s Dimitri Steinmann in round two.

Indians Mahesh Mangaonkar, Vikram Malhotra, Ramit Tandon and wildcard Aditya Jagtap are all in action in the first round. Mangaonkar faces France’s World No.71 Baptiste Masotti in round one, with the winner facing number two seed ElShorbagy in the second round.

Malhotra, meanwhile, is in action against Egypt’s Mazen Gamal with the winner coming up against England’s former World No.1 Willstrop in the second round. Elsewhere in the opening round, Tandon and Jagtap face England’s World No.52 Joshua Masters and Egypt’s World No.51 Karim El Hammamy, respectively.

You will be able to watch live streaming from the glass court and court five on the tournament’s YouTube channel when the tournament takes place January 8-12.

More information about the tournament can be found on the tournament website: https://www.indiansquashcircuit.com/ and by following them on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

All times are local (UTC+5.30)

CCI International – Main Draw schedule
Court 3
16:00 Youssef Ibrahim (EGY) v Peter Creed (WAL)
16:45 Mohamed Reda (EGY) v Dimitri Steinmann (SUI)

Court 5
16:00 Edmon Lopez (ESP) v Iker Pajares Bernabeu (ESP)
16:45 Ramit Tandon (IND) v Joshua Masters (ENG)
17:30 Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (IND) v Ben Coleman (ENG)

Glass Court
18:00 Karim El Hammamy (EGY) v [WC] Aditya Jagtap (IND)
19:00 Mazen Gamal (EGY) v Vikram Malhotra (IND)
20:00 Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND) v Baptiste Masotti (FRA)

Germany’s Rösner Talks New Year Ambitions Ahead of J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions Title Defence

Germany’s World No.3 Simon Rösner will kick off the defence of his J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions title on Friday January 16 as he makes his first PSA Tour appearance since the birth of his son, Liam.

Rösner made history last January as he became the first German player ever to win a major PSA World Tour title after defeating Egypt’s Tarek Momen under the chandeliers in the Vanderbilt Hall of New York’s iconic Grand Central Terminal.

That title victory for the 31-year-old kicked off an incredible 12-month period which saw him marry his fiancée, Vivien, rise to a career-high World No.3 ranking and celebrate the birth of his son, who was welcomed into the world on December 28.

"It's been an unbelievable year sporting-wise and in my private life," said Rösner.

"When you get married, have a kid, win your biggest title and get to No.3 in the world, you can't do much better.

"The arrival of my son was very special, it was definitely the perfect way to cap off the year.

"I've really enjoyed the last few days and I'm going to enjoy some more days with him before I depart for New York. It's going to be very tricky not to be at home for a few days, but I have to get used to that kind of scenario.

"It's been an incredible year. I think it will be difficult to top it in 2019, but I'll give it my very best."

The 2019 J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions will be held between January 16-24 and the event is one of the most prestigious tournaments on the PSA World Tour calendar.

Rösner admits that going into the tournament as the defending champion will result in some added pressure but is backing himself to push it one side as he targets a strong start to 2019.

"There's a bit of extra pressure, but I'm just going to go in there the way I did last year and try to take each match round by round, enjoy it as much as I can, enjoy Grand Central Terminal and go from there," he said.

"Last year was an incredible experience. I think that winning one of my most favourite tournaments of the year is something very special and I can't really describe the feeling. Feelings come up that you haven't experienced before and it's going to be a very interesting approach this year as defending champion.

"I haven't had that before, so I definitely have to try to get my best squash out there right from the [second] round, which is going to be tough already against [Ryan] Cuskelly.

"The ToC win was a big result for me in order to push into the top six in the world. I hadn't been in there for quite a while, so that win got me back in there. It was very important in order to stay in touch with all of the Egyptian boys, who are all incredibly strong.

"So are all the other competitors obviously, so I have to play the best every single time and try to enjoy my squash, as that's when I usually do my best."

Rösner is seeded third for the tournament and receives a bye into round two, where he will come up against Australia’s World No.14 Cuskelly. The Paderborn-based star features on the same side of the draw as World No.1 Mohamed ElShorbagy, while the likes of World No.2 Ali Farag, Momen, Colombia’s Miguel Rodriguez and three-time winner Ramy Ashour will also compete at Grand Central Terminal.

A women’s draw featuring stars such as defending champion Nour El Sherbini, World No.1 Raneem El Welily, United States No.1 Amanda Sobhy and 2017 winner Camille Serme gets under way on January 18.

The 2019 edition of the Tournament of Champions will be held at Grand Central Terminal for a 22nd year and features a record prize purse of $360,000, which makes it the second most lucrative event on the PSA Tour throughout the 2018/19 season.

For more information on the event, follow the Tournament of Champions on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram  or the tournament website. Tickets are available for purchase here.

El Tayeb and Evans Seeded to Meet in Cleveland Classic Final

Egypt’s World No.3 Nour El Tayeb and Wales’ World No.10 Tesni Evans are seeded to meet in the final of this month’s Cleveland Classic PSA Bronze tournament after the main draw was released today.



The tournament will take place at the Cleveland Racquet Club from January 31 – February 4, 2019 and will feature a strong female line-up battling for the PSA Bronze title.



El Tayeb is the top seed and has a strong record on American soil, with all three of her last title victories coming in the United States, including PSA Platinum title wins at the 2017 U.S. Open and 2018 Windy City Open.



El Tayeb, along with the other top eight seeds, receives a bye into the second round where she will face either Malaysia’s Rachel Arnold or Netherlands’ Milou van der Heijden.



The World No.3 is seeded on the same side of the draw as the likes of 2017 tournament finalist Alison Waters, England’s World No.21 Emily Whitlock and fellow Egyptian Nadine Shahin.



Meanwhile, at the opposite end of the draw is World No.10 Evans, who is seeded on the same side of the draw as England’s World No.15 Victoria Lust and Egyptians Mariam Metwally and Mayar Hany.



The Welshwoman, who finished runner-up at the Monte Carlo Classic last month, will face either Canada’s Danielle LeTourneau or United States’ Haley Mendez in the second round depending on who comes out on top in their round one clash.



The wildcard spot is occupied by Spain’s World No.132 Marina De Juan Gallach, who resides in Cleveland, and she will face Belgium’s World No.30 Nele Gilis in the opening round of action.



More information on the tournament can be found at the tournament website: https://www.clevelandsquash.com/



Cleveland Classic – Main Draw

[1] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) [Bye]

Rachel Arnold (MAS) v [9/16] Milou van der Heijden (NED)

[9/16] Nele Gilis (BEL) v [WC] Marina De Juan Gallach (ESP)

[5] Emily Whitlock (ENG) [Bye]

[8] Nadine Shahin (EGY) [Bye]

Nikki Todd (CAN) v [9/16] Hollie Naughton (CAN)

[9/16] Samantha Cornett (CAN) v Tinne Gilis (BEL)

[3] Alison Waters (ENG) [Bye]

[4] Victoria Lust (ENG) [Bye]

Lisa Aitken (SCO) v [9/16] Rowan Elaraby (EGY)

[9/16] Coline Aumard (FRA) v Lucy Turmel (ENG)

[6] Mariam Metwally (EGY) [Bye]

[7] Mayar Hany (EGY) [Bye]

Nicole Bunyan (CAN) v [9/16] Amanda Landers-Murphy (NZL)

[9/16] Danielle Letourneau (CAN) v Haley Mendez (USA)

[2] Tesni Evans (WAL) [Bye]