Doha: The draw for the qualifying round of the PSA World Championship 2014 will take place today, officials of the Qatar Squash Federation (QSF) announced here yesterday.
“The qualifying rounds will begin on Thursday with 32 players vying for the 16 places in the main draw. The draw will be held on Wednesday,” said Gamal Rasmi, Technical Secretary of the QSF.
“Matches will be played on a knockout system in both the qualifying and main draw. The main draw will feature 48 players and the 16 qualifiers,” said Rasmi.
Three-time PSA World Championship winner Nick Mathew, world no. 1 Mohamed Elshorbagy and Gregory Gaultier are some of the top stars who will be seen in action at the eight-day championship.
Mohamed and his younger brother Marwan, who also features in the main draw, have been in Qatar for last two weeks to get used to the new glass court and weather conditions.
“Some of the top players have already arrived in Doha. The Elshorbagy brothers have been here for last 10 days and they have been practising here,” said Rasmi.
“Some of the players featuring in the qualifying round have already arrived while some of them will check into the city in the coming days,” he added.
The other top names who will be seen in action are four-time former champion Amr Shabana, Borja Golan, Omar Mosaad and Tarek Momen, all of them are from Egypt and in the top 10 of the PSA rankings.
Peter Barker and Daryl Selby, both from England, complete the top-10 ranked players.
Among the current crop of players, none have been able to get close to Jansher Khan
and Jahangir Khan’s record of eight and six world titles respectively.
Of the players competing in Qatar, Englishman Matthew has three world titles while Egyptian Shabana has four and his compatriot Ramy Ashour has two.
Qatar’s challenge at the championship will be led by Abdulla Al Tamimi, ranked 74 in the world. The 19-year-old has been handed a wild card for the championship and will face Mosaad in the first round.
The opening ceremony of the PSA World Championship 2014 will be held on Friday at 5pm and the final match is scheduled on November 21 at 5.30pm. Talal Al Mawlawi is the Tournament Director. THE PENINSULA
