Mostafa Asal and Nour El Sherbini will return to Zurich to defend their Grasshopper Cup titles in the PSA World Tour Gold event this week.
The PSA World Tour Gold event heads back to Halle 622 for the 10th edition of the revived tournament, which will be played between October 17-22.
This is set to be World No.4 Asal’s first tournament of the 2023-24 season following his 12-week suspension. The 22-year-old defeated Marwan ElShorbagy in last year’s final in impressive fashion, claiming victory in straight games to win the ninth title of his career.
Asal comes in as the No.3 seed for this year’s Grasshopper Cup and features in a tough quarter of the draw which includes No.6 seed Joel Makin – who Asal has had brutal matches with in the past – Egyptian duo Mohamed Abouelghar and Youssef Ibrahim – who are both capable of claiming upsets – and English pair Patrick Rooney and Adrian Waller.
Top seed Ali Farag was noticeably carrying an injury as he lost to local favourite Nicolas Mueller in last year’s event but returns this year in a bid to claim the title for the first time and extend his lead at the top of the PSA World Rankings.
Defending women’s champion El Sherbini recovered from 2-1 down in last year’s final to defeat World No.3 Hania El Hammamy and claim the title.
After a winning start at last week’s Paris Squash event, El Sherbini reclaimed her World No.1 status from previous incumbent Nouran Gohar and she will be looking to extend her lead and become the first woman to hold multiple Grasshopper Cup titles. She will be up against either Emilia Soini or Lucy Turmel in her opening match.
2023 Grasshopper Cup: Men’s Draw
[1] Ali Farag (EGY) bye
Charlie Lee (ENG) v [9/16] Auguste Dussourd (FRA)
[9/16] Greg Lobban (SCO) v Nick Wall (ENG)
[8] Baptiste Masotti (FRA) bye
[6] Joel Makin (WAL) bye
Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY) v [9/16] Patrick Rooney (ENG)
[9/16] Adrian Waller (ENG) v Youssef Ibrahim (EGY)
[3] Mostafa Asal (EGY) bye
[4] Marwan ElShorbagy (ENG) bye
Ramit Tandon (IND) v [9/16] Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi (QAT)
[9/16] Dimitri Steinmann (SUI) v George Parker (ENG)
[5] Mazen Hesham (EGY) bye
[7] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) bye
[WC] Yannick Wilhelmi (SUI) v [9/16] Nicolas Mueller (SUI)
[9/16] Iker Pajares Bernabeu (ESP) v Raphael Kandra (GER)
[2] Mohamed ElShorbagy (ENG) bye
2023 Grasshopper Cup: Women’s Draw
[1] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) bye
Emilia Soini (FIN) v [9/16] Lucy Turmel (ENG)
[9/16] Emily Whitlock (WAL) v Aira Azman (MAS)
[7] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) bye
[6] Tesni Evans (WAL) bye
[WC] Cindy Merlo (SUI) v [9/16] Jasmine Hutton (ENG)
[9/16] Satomi Watanabe (JPN) v Enora Villard (FRA)
[4] Georgina Kennedy (ENG) bye
[3] Nele Gilis (BEL) bye
Kenzy Ayman (EGY) v [9/16] Hana Moataz (EGY)
[9/16] Mariam Metwally (EGY) v Nicole Bunyan (CAN)
[8] Sabrina Sobhy (USA) bye
[5] Rowan Elaraby (EGY) bye
Georgia Adderley (SCO) v [9/16] Katie Malliff (ENG)
[9/16] Fayrouz Aboelkheir (EGY) v Marie Stephan (FRA)
[2] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) bye