Wife Raneem heads women’s leader board on Road to Egypt
By MATT COLES – Squash Mad Correspondent
Egypt’s Tarek Momen has booked his place in the season-ending PSA World Tour Finals after claiming the PSA Men’s World Championship 2019-2020 title in Qatar on Friday.
The World No.3 defeated New Zealand’s Paul Coll in the final at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex to become World Champion for the first time.
The PSA World Tour Finals includes both a men’s and women’s tournament and brings together the reigning PSA World Champions and all of the PSA World Tour Platinum title winners from the season.
That means Momen will be competing alongside his wife Raneem El Welily, last season’s women’s world champion who tops the current women’s leader board.
Any remaining places are then allocated to the highest ranked players on the Road to Egypt Standings and points are on offer across all PSA World Tour events during the season.
After winning the World Championships, U.S. Open and Egyptian Open respectively, Momen, Ali Farag and Karim Abdel Gawad are already assured of a spot in the PSA World Tour Finals in June.
Mohamed ElShorbagy now leads the way atop the men’s standings, with the China Open and Oracle NetSuite Open champion accumulating over 6,000 points already this season.
U.S. Open champion, and World No.1, Farag drops down to second place after missing the World Championships through personal reasons. The Egyptian lifted the first Platinum title of the season in Philadelphia.
Momen moves up into third place after becoming the 18th man to put his name on the iconic World Championship trophy, with Paul Coll now in fourth after making the final of the sport’s premiere event for the first time.
Gawad, Marwan ElShorbagy, Joel Makin and Simon Rösner round out the top eight, with Diego Elias and Miguel Rodriguez in close order behind the German.
For the women’s event at the PSA World Tour Finals, Nouran Gohar and Nour El Sherbini have already booked their places, having lifted the U.S Open and World Championship titles, respectively.
World No.1 El Welily holds the lead in the Road to Egypt, with over 6,000 points to her name. She won the Oracle NetSuite Open in San Francisco earlier this year.
China Open winner Nour El Tayeb sits second on the leaderboard, with the Egyptian having also reached the final of the Oracle NetSuite Open.
U.S. Open champ Gohar is third, with El Sherbini in fifth, despite having only featured in one tournament, as she won the World Championship at the Pyramids on her return from injury. Open de France – Nantes winner Camille Serme is currently in between the pair in fourth place.
Hania El Hammamy, Sarah-Jane Perry and Amanda Sobhy hold the remaining places in the top eight, with New Zealand’s Joelle King only marginally behind the American.
The next event that will see the PSA World Tour stars battling it out for an automatic place in the season-ending Finals will be the J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions, which takes place in New York between January 9-17.
Road to Egypt Standings.
Article by MATT COLES (PSA). Edited by ALAN THATCHER.
Picture and graphic courtesy of PSA