Record prize fund of $305,000
By ALAN THATCHER and NATHAN CLARKE
The world’s greatest squash players will return to Asia for the 2017 Cathay Pacific Sun Hung Kai Financial Hong Kong Open between November 14-19 in what will be the most lucrative edition of the PSA World Series event.
A prize fund of $305,000 dollars will be up for grabs across both the men’s and women’s event – an increase of $40,000 on last year – with stars including World No.1 Gregory Gaultier, World Champion Karim Abdel Gawad, two-time winner Mohamed ElShorbagy and defending champion Ramy Ashour battling it out for the men’s title.
Home hero and World No.22 Max Lee (right), who reached his maiden World Series semi-final in the 2016 instalment, will be cheered on by his home fans in Hong Kong while his compatriot, World No.34 Leo Au, has been named as the tournament wildcard.
World No.1 and reigning World Champion Nour El Sherbini headlines the women’s event as she aims to improve on last year’s semi-final finish, while defending champion Nouran Gohar also returns.
Gohar ended Malaysian legend Nicol David’s run of 10 straight Hong Kong Open titles in last year’s tournament and the eight-time World Champion will look to make amends this year.
World No.2 Raneem El Welily, World No.3 Camille Serme and World No.4 Laura Massaro are also amongst the title contenders in Hong Kong, while World No.33 Liu Tsz-Ling is granted the wildcard spot.
Points for the World Series Standings will also be up for grabs as players aim to qualify for the season-ending PSA World Series Finals – with only the top eight players on the men’s and women’s standings earning a coveted berth at the lucrative tournament.
The qualifying stages for the 2017 Cathay Pacific Sun Hung Kai Financial Hong Kong Open take place between September 12-13 at the Hong Kong Football Club. The main draw will be staged at the Hong Kong Squash Centre between September 14-19.
Action from every round of the tournament will be shown live on SQUASHTV (Rest of World) and Eurosport Player (Europe Only), while the semi-finals and finals will be shown live on mainstream broadcast channels around the world, including BT Sport, beIN Sports, Fox Sports Australia and Astro.
Further information can be found on the tournament website: www.hksquashopen.com
2017 Cathay Pacific Sun Hung Kai Financial Hong Kong Open
Men’s Entry List:
1) Gregory Gaultier (FRA)
2) Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY)
3) Mohamed ElShorbagy (EGY)
4) Ali Farag (EGY)
5) Marwan ElShorbagy (EGY)
6) James Willstrop (ENG)
7) Tarek Momen (EGY)
8) Fares Dessouky (EGY)
9) Paul Coll (NZL)
10) Simon Rösner (GER)
11) Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY)
12) Ramy Ashour (EGY)
13) Ryan Cuskelly (AUS)
14) Cameron Pilley (AUS)
15) Zahed Mohamed (EGY)
16) Cesar Salazar (MEX)
17) Max Lee (HKG)
18) Gregoire Marche (FRA)
19) Omar Mosaad (EGY)
20) Mathieu Castagnet (FRA)
21) Alan Clyne (SCO)
22) Saurav Ghosal (IND)
23) Omar Abdel Meguid (EGY)
Wildcard: Leo Au (HKG)
Women’s Entry List:
1) Nour El Sherbini (EGY)
2) Raneem El Welily (EGY)
3) Camille Serme (FRA)
4) Laura Massaro (ENG)
5) Nicol David (MAS)
6) Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG)
7) Nouran Gohar (EGY)
8) Alison Waters (ENG)
9) Annie Au (HKG)
10) Joelle King (NZL)
11) Joshna Chinappa (IND)
12) Emily Whitlock (ENG)
13) Nour El Tayeb (IND)
14) Tesni Evans (WAL)
15) Victoria Lust (ENG)
16) Olivia Blatchford (USA)
17) Donna Urquhart (AUS)
18) Joey Chan (HKG)
19) Salma Hany Ibrahim (EGY)
20) Dipika Pallikal Karthik (IND)
21) Millie Tomlinson (ENG)
22) Heba El Torky (EGY)
23) Fiona Moverley (ENG)
24) Liu Tsz-Ling (HKG)
Pictures courtesy of PSA and Canary Wharf Classic