Raneem aims for a fourth Chicago title
By MATT COLES – Squash Mad Correspondent
Egyptian World No.1s Raneem El Welily and Ali Farag will top their respective draws at The Windy City Open presented by the Walter Family in Chicago, held between February 27 and March 4.
The glass court will be staged in the University Club of Chicago’s iconic Cathedral Hall, with 96 of the world’s best players battling out for a share of the $500,000 prize fund, which is split equally across both the men’s and women’s tournaments.
El Welily is a three-time winner of this event, having taken the title in 2015, 2016 and 2017, with World No.4 Nour El Tayeb the most recent winner of the Windy City Open, last held in 2018.
In addition to El Welily and World No.2 Nour El Sherbini, the likes of World No.3 Nouran Gohar, El Tayeb, World No.5 Camille Serme and World No.6 Joelle King will be vying for the women’s title, alongside US No.1 Amanda Sobhy, who will be the home favourite for the tournament.
The 2019 event was replaced with the 2018-2019 PSA World Championships presented by the Walter Family, held at Chicago’s Union Station, where Farag and El Sherbini got their hands on the biggest prize in squash.
Neither have tasted success at the University Club of Chicago, but both have fond memories of the city. The men’s event features four former champions, with Egypt’s Mohamed ElShorbagy and France’s Gregory Gaultier winning this event twice in the past while Spain’s Borja Golan and India’s Saurav Ghosal have also got their hands on the men’s trophy.
In the men’s draw, World Champion Tarek Momen will be among those trying to get the better of the top two, along with former World No.1 Karim Abdel Gawad, World Championship runner-up Paul Coll, World No.6 Diego Elias and World No.7 Simon Rösner.
All matches will be held at the University Club of Chicago, with fixtures from the glass court streamed live on SQUASHTV (rest of world), Eurosport Player (Europe only) and the official Facebook page of the PSA World Tour.Â
The Windy City Open presented by the Walter Family, Catedral Hall, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illionois, USA.
PSA $250k Men’s Entry List:
1) Ali Farag (EGY)
2) Mohamed ElShorbagy (EGY)
3) Tarek Momen (EGY)
4) Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY)
5) Paul Coll (NZL)
6) Diego Elias (PER)
7) Simon Rösner (GER)
8) Marwan ElShorbagy (EGY)
9) Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY)
10) Miguel Rodriguez (COL)
11) Fares Dessouky (EGY)
12) Joel Makin (WAL)
13) Gregory Gaultier (FRA)
14) Saurav Ghosal (IND)
15) Gregoire Marche (FRA)
16) Zahed Salem (EGY)
17) Omar Mosaad (EGY)
18) Mazen Hesham (EGY)
19 Adrian Waller (ENG)
20) Daryl Selby (ENG)
21) Mostafa Asal (EGY)
22) Leo Au (HKG)
23) Cesar Salazar (MEX)
24) Mathieu Castagnet (FRA)
25) Greg Lobban (SCO)
26) Declan James (ENG)
27) Campbell Grayson (NZL)
28) Nicolas Mueller (SUI)
29) Raphael Kandra (GER)
30) Iker Pajares Bernabeu (ESP)
31) Tom Richards (ENG)
32) Borja Golan (ESP)
33) Eain Yow Ng (MAS)
34) Lucas Serme (FRA)
35) Alan Clyne (SCO)
36) Tsz Fung Yip (HKG)
37) Youssef Soliman (EGY)
38) Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi (QAT)
39) Max Lee (HKG)
40) Baptiste Masotti (FRA)
41) Arturo Salazar (MEX)
42) Ramit Tandon (IND)
43) Mohamed ElSherbini (EGY)
44) Ivan Yuen (MAS)
45) Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND)
46) Tayyar Aslam (PAK)
47) Vikram Malhotra (IND)
Wildcard) Shahjahan Khan (USA)
PSA $250k Women’s Entry List:
1) Raneem El Welily (EGY)
2) Nour El Sherbini (EGY)
3) Nouran Gohar (EGY)
4) Nour El Tayeb (EGY)
5) Camille Serme (FRA)
6) Joelle King (NZL)
7) Amanda Sobhy (USA)
8) Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG)
9) Tesni Evans (WAL)
10) Hania El Hammamy (EGY)
11) Annie Au (HKG)
12) Joshna Chinappa (IND)
13) Alison Waters (ENG)
14) Salma Hany (EGY)
15) Victoria Lust (ENG)
16) Yathreb Adel (EGY)
17) Olivia Blatchford Clyne (USA)
18) Nele Gilis (BEL)
19) Joey Chan (HKG)
20) Nadine Shahin (EGY)
21) Rowan Elaraby (EGY)
22) Tinne Gilis (BEL)
23) Zeina Mickawy (EGY)
24) Low Wee Wern (MAS)
25) Millie Tomlinson (ENG)
26) Rachael Grinham (AUS)
27) Emily Whitlock (ENG)
28) Nada Abbas (EGY)
29) Hollie Naughton (CAN)
30) Mariam Metwally (EGY)
31) Julianne Courtice (ENG)
32) Milou van der Heijden (NED)
33) Olivia Fiechter (USA)
34) Coline Aumard (FRA)
35) Lisa Aitken (SCO)
36) Melissa Alves (FRA)
37) Sivasangari Subramanium (MAS)
38) Danielle Letourneau (CAN)
39) Sabrina Sobhy (USA)
40) Mayar Hany (EGY)
41) Alexandra Fuller (RSA)
42) Liu Tsz-Ling (HKG)
43) Tze Lok Ho (HKG)
44) Haley Mendez (USA)
45) Lucy Turmel (ENG)
46) Donna Lobban (AUS)
47) Jasmine Hutton (ENG)
Wildcard) Hana Moataz (EGY)Â
Report by MATT COLES (PSA). Edited by ALAN THATCHER.
Pictures courtesy of PSA