Richards meets Willstrop in all-English battle
By SEAN REUTHE
World Championship runner-up Omar Mosaad has withdrawn from next week’s Cathay Pacific Sun Hung Kai Financial Hong Kong Open due to illness.
The Egyptian World No.3’s withdrawal from the World Series tournament means that Colombia’s Miguel Angel Rodriguez takes his place as the number three seed, while World No.10 Tarek Momen will now face a qualifier instead of Simon Rösner in round one.
Mexico’s Cesar Salazar moves into the main draw and will take on German No.1 Rösner for a place in the second round.
Squash fans the world over will be watching out for the return to action of the injury-prone genius Ramy Ashour, who meets India’s Saurav Ghosal in the first round, with the winner scheduled to meet No.4 seed Marwan Elshorbagy in the second round.
The Egyptian’s brother, top seed Mohamed Elshorbagy, faces England’s Chris Simpson. A fascinating all-English first round pitches Tom Richards against former world number one James Willstrop.
Men’s 2016 Cathay Pacific Sun Hung Kai Financial Hong Kong Open
Revised First Round:
[1] Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY) v Chris Simpson (ENG)
Leo Au (HKG) v Cameron Pilley (AUS)
Mazen Hesham (EGY) v [Qualifier]
Borja Golan (ESP) v [6] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY)
Tarek Momen (EGY) v [Qualifier]
Tom Richards (ENG) v James Willstrop (ENG)
Ryan Cuskelly (AUS) v [Qualifier]
[WC] Tsz Fung Yip (HKG) v [3] Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL)
[4] Marwan ElShorbagy (EGY) v [Qualifier]
Ramy Ashour (EGY) v Saurav Ghosal (IND)
Cesar Salazar (MEX) v Simon Rösner (GER)
[Qualifier] v [5] Mathieu Castagnet (FRA)
[7] Ali Farag (EGY) v [Qualifier]
Max Lee (HKG) v [Qualifier]
Fares Dessouky (EGY) v Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY)
[2] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) v [Qualifier]
Follow PSA action
live on Eurosport
The Cathay Pacific Sun Hung Kai Financial Hong Kong Open gets under way on Tuesday August 23 as the world’s leading players compete in the the first tournament of the 2016-17 season to be broadcast LIVE on EUROSPORT PLAYER.
World No.1 and defending champion Mohamed ElShorbagy headlines the Men’s draw as he looks to continue the dominant form that saw him win six of the seven World Series titles on offer last season.
In the Women’s event, Malaysia’s eight-time World Champion Nicol David (right) returns to Hong Kong as she bids to win the tournament for an unprecedented 11th consecutive time.
David returned to the world’s top three in this month’s World Rankings and, after a disappointing previous season by the 32-year-old’s high standards, will be looking to rediscover the form that saw her top the World Rankings for an incredible nine years.
David is seeded to meet 2015 runner-up Laura Massaro in the semi-final and could face World Champion and current World No.1 Nour El Sherbini in the final.
Players will also be battling for points on the PSA Road To Dubai Standings, where only the top eight qualify for a place at the lucrative season-ending PSA Dubai World Series Finals.
United States No.1 Amanda Sobhy gets things underway against Hong Kong’s Joey Chan at noon local time on day one, while 2007 World Champion Rachael Grinham and El Welily follow on an hour later.
ElShorbagy is also in action on the opening day of action as he takes to the court against England’s Chris Simpson at 7pm local time. David, meanwhile, lines up against a qualifier the following day at 6pm local time – and all of the action will be brought to you LIVE on EUROSPORT PLAYER.
EUROSPORT PLAYER SCHEDULE – August 23:
(all times local)
12:00 [7] Amanda Sobhy (USA) v Joey Chan (HKG)
13:00 Rachael Grinham (AUS) v [3] Raneem El Welily (EGY)
14:00 [5] Marwan ElShorbagy (EGY) v [Qualifier]
15:00 [WC] Tsz Fung Yip (HKG) v [4] Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL)
17:00 [Qualifier] v [11] Annie Au (HKG)
18:00 [1] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) v Heba El Torky (EGY)
19:00 [1] Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY) v Chris Simpson (ENG)
20:00 Leo Au (HKG) v Cameron Pilley (AUS)
Picture by PATRICK LAUSON