Doha: World No.24 Abdulla Al Tamimi will face Malaysia’s Eain Yow Ng in round one of the Qatar Classic which kicks off today at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex.
Tamimi, who has been having a successful run on the PSA Tour this season, will be keen to put an impressive show before the home fans when he begins his campaign in the first round match today.
Besides, Tamimi, two other local players have been handed wild cards for the tournament.
The two wildcards, Syed Azlan Amjad and Abdulrahman AlMalki will face Hong Kong’s Tsz Fung Yip and Australia’s Cameron Pilley, respectively, in the opening round.
Syed and AbdulRahman will aim to pull off upset wins when take on players ranked higher on PSA ranking computer.
The PSA World Tour event gets under way with best male players in the world descending in Doha for a chance to win the PSA Platinum title.
World No.1 Mohamed El Shorbagy leads the draw for a chance to win his fourth title at the event. The Egyptian World Champion is the hot favourite heading into the tournament, having reached the final for the last five consecutive events.
World No.1 El Shorbagy will face either Wildcard Qatar’s Syed or Hong Kong’s Yip in round two – with the top eight seeds receiving a bye into round two.
Situated at the opposite end of the draw is compatriot and rival Ali Farag. The World No.2 has beaten El Shorbagy once already this season in the final of the Oracle NetSuite Open and could come up against the ‘Beast from Alexandria’ in the final in Doha should they both play to their respective seedings.
Farag faces a tricky opening round in Qatar as he faces compatriot and World No.9 Mohamed Abouelghar, who has enjoyed a strong start to the season by winning his biggest ever title at the J.P. Morgan China Squash Open.
Other strong contenders for the title include World No.4 Tarek Momen, who will be high on confidence after his biggest tournament win at the Channel VAS Championships at St George’s Hill.
The number three seed will face ‘Swiss Rocket’ Nicolas Mueller in round two as both players receive a bye into the second phase.
US Open runner-up Simon Rösner will take on either England’s George Parker or New Zealand’s Campbell Grayson for a place in round three as he targets his second major PSA title after falling narrowly short to El Shorbagy in Philadelphia earlier this month.
The Qatar Classic features a prize purse of $177,750 and the winner will automatically qualify for a spot at June’s PSA World Tour Finals.
