World champion bids for a fourth Qatar title
By SEAN REUTHE – Squash Mad Reporter
The 2018 Qatar Classic will welcome the world’s leading players back to Doha between October 27 – November 2 when World No.1 and defending champion Mohamed ElShorbagy will kick off his attempts to lift the PSA World Tour Platinum title for the fourth time at the Khalifa International Tennis & Squash Complex.
ElShorbagy, 27, won the Qatar Classic in 2013, 2015 and 2017 and also appeared in the final of the 2012 and 2014 PSA World Championships, which took place in Doha, the capital of the State of Qatar.
The Egyptian will look to keep his superb run going in Qatar but will face resistance from the likes of World No.2 Ali Farag, 2011 winner Gregory Gaultier and the in form Simon Rosner and Miguel Angel Rodriguez as he looks to take the lion’s share of the $177K prize purse.
Local interest comes in the form of the Qatari Champion, Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi, and Syed Azlan Amjad and Abdulrahman Al-Malki, who will appear in the main draw for the first since the 2006 edition.
Al Tamimi is currently playing at a career-high World No.28 ranking and will look to reach the latter rounds of this tournament for the first time.
As a PSA World Tour Platinum tournament, the winner of the event will automatically qualify for a coveted berth at the season-ending PSA World Tour Finals, which includes both a men’s and women’s tournament and features the reigning PSA World Champions together with the season’s Platinum event winners and players that qualify by placing high enough on the PSA Road to Dubai Leaderboard.
Action from the Qatar Classic will be broadcast live on SQUASHTV (Rest of World) and Eurosport Player (Europe only), with action from the semi-finals on November 1 and the final on November 2 being shown live by mainstream broadcasters around the world, such as BT Sport, beIN Sports, Fox Sports Australia and Astro.
2018 Qatar Classic, Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex, Doha, Qatar.
2018 Qatar Classic – Entry List:
1) Mohamed ElShorbagy (EGY)
2) Ali Farag (EGY)
3) Marwan ElShorbagy (EGY)
4) Tarek Momen (EGY)
5) Simon Rösner (GER)
6) Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL)
7) Gregory Gaultier (FRA)
8) Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY)
9) Ramy Ashour (EGY)
10) Paul Coll (NZL)
11) Diego Elias (PER)
12) Saurav Ghosal (IND)
13) Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY)
14) Omar Mosaad (EGY)
15) Ryan Cuskelly (AUS)
16) Daryl Selby (ENG)
17) James Willstrop (ENG)
18) Nicolas Mueller (SUI)
19) Max Lee (HKG)
20) Cameron Pilley (AUS)
21) Leo Au (HKG)
22) Raphael Kandra (GER)
23) Declan James (ENG)
24) Cesar Salazar (MEX)
25) Tsz Fung Yip (HKG)
26) Mathieu Castagnet (FRA)
27) Borja Golan (ESP)
28) Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi (QAT)
29) Gregoire Marche (FRA)
30) Greg Lobban (SCO)
31) Tom Richards (ENG)
32) Mazen Hesham (EGY)
33) Alan Clyne (SCO)
34) Campbell Grayson (NZL)
35) Joel Makin (WAL)
36) Chris Simpson (ENG)
37) Nafiizwan Adnan (MAS)
38) Adrian Waller (ENG)
39) Karim Ali Fathi (EGY)
40) Omar Abdel Meguid (EGY)
41) Eain Yow Ng (MAS)
42) Arturo Salazar (MEX)
43) Ben Coleman (ENG)
44) Youssef Soliman (EGY)
45) Rex Hedrick (AUS)
46) Mohamed Reda (EGY)
Wildcard) Syed Azlan Amjad (QAT)
Wildcard) Abdulrahman Al-Malki (QAT)
Article by SEAN REUTHE (PSA PR and Media Manager). Edited by ALAN THATCHER.
Pictures courtesy of PSA