Egypt’s World No.2 Mohamed El Shorbagy (right) and compatriot Tarek Momen in action at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex in this file picture.
Egypt’s World No.2 Mohamed El Shorbagy, along with compatriots Tarek Momen and Karim Abdel Gawad, will headline the PSA Men’s World Championship which begins today at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex.
El Shorbagy and Momen are expected to meet in the final.
El Shorbagy, the former World Champion will be aiming to get his hands on the title for the second time and is the favourite at the event following the withdrawal of reigning World Champion Ali Farag.
Gawad makes it a trio of Egyptians expected at the sharp end of the tournament.
The two-time champion is a wounded tiger, having lost his top rank and is eager to get back with some consistent show having adapted his game to challenge and is keen to push more for the top honours in the sport. He begins his campaign with a first round match against compatriot Karim El Hammamy Besides the Egyptian, the likes of Paul Coll, Simon Rösner, Miguel Rodriguez, Diego Elias, Saurav Ghosal and Joel Makin will all be aiming to end the Egyptian dominance in Qatar this week.
Following Farag withdrawn from the event World No.3 and last season’s runner-up Momen took his place in the draw and plays Germany’s Raphael Kandra in round one. New Zealand’s Paul Coll, meanwhile, replaces Momen and will play wildcard Hama Al Amri.
Colombia’s Miguel Rodriguez takes Coll’s place in the draw and faces Egypt’s Youssef Soliman, with England’s Daryl Selby facing Youssef Ibrahim. While, France’s Baptiste Masotti now comes into the tournament and will play Egypt’s former World No.3 Omar Mosaad in round one.
The biggest tournament in men’s squash takes place in Doha from today and ends on November 15, with the winner taking home the trophy that Farag claimed at Union Station back in February.
The world champion will win $45,600 from a pot of $335,000 in Qatar, according to PSA.
The championship is featuring a total of 64 players and is being held for a record fifth time in Doha.
Meanwhile, Momen has revealed that his epic run to the final of last season’s World Championships in Chicago has only made him even more determined to go one step further in Qatar.
The World No.3 endured an epic run to February’s final in the Windy City when he blew away defending champion Mohamed El Shorbagy in a death struggle five-game semi-final.
That came on the back of another five-game war with Mohamed Abouelghar in round three and his defeat of 2017 finalist Marwan El Shorbagy in the last eight.
No surprise then that when he lost a taught third set tie-break to Farag in the final itself the sting went out of his game and he succumbed in a final that still produced 79 minutes of world class squash.
