Record prize money in Manchester
By NATHAN CLARKE
Frenchman Gregory Gaultier, the 2015 title winner, and two-time champion Nour El Sherbini of Egypt have been named as the respective number one seeds for the 2017 AJ Bell PSA World Championships, which take place in Manchester, England from December 8-17.
The pinnacle event in the squash calendar, the World Championships bring together almost 200 of the world’s top players, representing upwards of 30 nations, to contest the sought after title which, for the first time in history, will see the men and women compete for an equal prize purse – with the winners set to take home a record total in excess of $45,000 each.
El Sherbini, who in 2015 became the youngest World Championship winner ever at the age of 20, will be hoping to complete a hat trick of triumphs and sits atop the draw ahead of compatriot Raneem El Welily, whom she defeated in the 2016 title decider.
France’s Camille Serme, England’s Laura Massaro – the 2013 winner – Nouran Gohar, eight-time winner Nicol David of Malaysia, Sarah-Jane Perry of England and recent U.S Open winner Nour El Tayeb complete the top eight seedings in the women’s draw – while American Amanda Sobhy misses the event after failing to recover from a torn achilles tendon earlier this year.
The 2011 finalist Jenny Duncalf is the tournament wild card while her partner – and 2007 title winner – Rachael Grinham will become the oldest woman ever to compete in the event at the age of 40.
In the men’s draw, World No.1 Gaultier occupies the number one seeding ahead of defending champion Karim Abdel Gawad, the Egyptian who claimed the title in surprise on home soil in Cairo last year, beating compatriot and three-time winner Ramy Ashour in the final.
Two-time runner-up Mohamed ElShorbagy, who lost both the 2012 and 2014 titles to Ashour, takes the number three seeding ahead of recent U.S. Open champion Ali Farag.
England’s Nick Matthew, who at 37 will be competing in his final World Championships, takes the number five seeding and will be hoping for a repeat of the success he had in 2013 when he claimed his third World title inside Manchester Central, defeating Gaultier in the decider.
Gaultier and Matthew are the only non-Egyptian players inside the top eight seedings in the men’s draw as Gawad, ElShorbagy and Farag are joined by Marwan ElShorbagy – younger brother of Mohamed – Tarek Momen – the recent Qatar Classic runner-up – and Fares Dessouky.
The 2017 AJ Bell PSA Men’s and Women’s World Championships will take place at the National Squash Centre, Manchester between December 8-13 and Manchester Central between December 14-17, 2017.
Tickets are priced from just £10 and are available to purchase by visiting: http://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/ajbellworldchamps
2017 AJ Bell PSA World Championships.
Men’s Main Draw Entry List:
1) Gregory Gaultier (FRA)
2) Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY)
3) Mohamed ElShorbagy (EGY)
4) Ali Farag (EGY)
5) Nick Matthew (ENG)
6) Marwan ElShorbagy (EGY)
7) Tarek Momen (EGY)
8) Fares Dessouky (EGY)
9) Paul Coll (NZL)
10) James Willstrop (ENG)
11) Ramy Ashour (EGY)
12) Simon Rösner (GER)
13) Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY)
14) Diego Elias (PER)
15) Daryl Selby (ENG)
16) Ryan Cuskelly (AUS)
17) Cesar Salazar (MEX)
18) Borja Golan (ESP)
19) Cameron Pilley (AUS)
20) Omar Mosaad (EGY)
21) Saurav Ghosal (IND)
22) Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL)
23) Gregoire Marche (FRA)
24) Alan Clyne (SCO)
25) Zahed Mohamed (EGY)
26) Leo Au (HKG)
27) Nicolas Mueller (SUI)
28) Max Lee (HKG)
29) Tsz Fung Yip (HKG)
30) Mathieu Castagnet (FRA)
31) Nafiizwan Adnan (MAS)
32) Adrian Waller (ENG)
33) Karim Ali Fathi (EGY)
34) Omar Abdel Meguid (EGY)
35) Declan James (ENG)
36) Chris Simpson (ENG)
37) Campbell Grayson (NZL)
38) Tom Richards (ENG)
39) Mazen Hesham (EGY)
40) Greg Lobban (SCO)
41) Raphael Kandra (GER)
42) Joel Makin (WAL)
43) Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi (QAT)
44) Mohamed Reda (EGY)
45) Lucas Serme (FRA)
46) Ivan Yuen (MAS)
47) Olli Tuominen (FIN)
48) Joshua Masters (ENG)
Women’s Main Draw Entry List:
1) Nour El Sherbini (EGY)
2) Raneem El Welily (EGY)
3) Camille Serme (FRA)
4) Laura Massaro (ENG)
5) Nouran Gohar (EGY)
6) Nicol David (MAS)
7) Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG)
8) Nour El Tayeb (EGY)
9) Joelle King (NZL)
10) Alison Waters (ENG)
11) Annie Au (HKG)
12) Emily Whitlock (ENG)
13) Olivia Blatchford (USA)
14) Joshna Chinappa (IND)
15) Victoria Lust (ENG)
16) Tesni Evans (WAL)
17) Donna Urquhart (AUS)
18) Salma Hany Ibrahim (EGY)
19) Joey Chan (HKG)
20) Dipika Pallikal Karthik (IND)
21) Mariam Metwally (EGY)
22) Millie Tomlinson (ENG)
23) Fiona Moverley (ENG)
24) Jenny Duncalf (ENG)
Pictures courtesy of PSA