Possibly the strongest 16-man draw in PSA history
By NATHAN CLARKE
A breathtaking draw has been confirmed for the 2017 Grasshopper Cup which will see all of the world’s top four players travel to Zurich’s Puls5 to contest the $100,000 tournament this May.
World No.1 Mohamed ElShorbagy heads the draw which sees every automatic entry bar wild card Nicolas Mueller ranked inside the World’s Top 20 – making it one of the most competitive 16-man events in the history of the PSA World Tour.
Joining ElShorbagy, who begins his title bid against Mueller, is 2016 World Champion Karim Abdel Gawad, 2015 World Champion Gregory Gaultier and 2013 World Champion Nick Matthew, fresh from his triumph at the Canary Wharf Classic.
Fellow top 10 players Simon Rosner, Ali Farag and Tarek Momen also feature. ElShorbagy’s younger brother Marwan, who downed Gaultier to win the title 12 months ago, does not feature.
So strong is the event that all eight quarter-finalists could be ranked within the top 15.
“We are delighted to see the Grasshopper Cup’s reputation as one of the top tournaments on the PSA World Tour continues to grow and is reflected in the spectacular strength and depth of this years draw,” said tournament organiser Steve Buchli.
“Here at Grasshopper Cup we are committed to developing our tournament into one of the leading events on Tour and look forward to watching the very best players compete here in Zurich during what promises to be another breathtaking week of squash this May. The entire team looks forward to welcoming the players here.”
2017 Grasshopper Cup, Zurich, Switzerland.
First Round Draw:
[1] Mohamed ElShorbagy (EGY) v [WC] Nicolas Mueller (SUI)
Cameron Pilley (AUS) v [5] Ali Farag (EGY)
[8] Omar Mosaad (EGY) v [Qualifier]
[Qualifier] v [4] Nick Matthew (ENG)
[3] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) v Daryl Selby (ENG)
Paul Coll (NZL) v [6] Simon Rösner (GER)
[7] Tarek Momen (EGY) v [Qualifier]
[Qualifier] v [2] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY)
Tickets for the 2017 Grasshopper Cup can be purchased by visiting https://gc-cup.com/ticketing/
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