Palmer To Face Shabana In Australian Open Opener, Illingworth Draws Switzerland's Nicolas Mueller
28 June 2011
-Australia's David Palmer will have to get past world number five Amr
Shabana of Egypt in the first round of the Australian Open if he is to
have any chance of adding a second title to the one he claimed in 2008.
The 2011 Australian Open, the third PSA World Series squash event of
the year, will be played on the all-glass court at the Royal Theatre in
Canberra from 8-14 August.
Palmer and Shabana, both one-time world number ones with six World
Open titles between them, have already faced each other 20 times on the
PSA World Tour since 2000 - with the Egyptian boasting a 12-8 advantage.
All four Australian men who qualified directly for the main draw of the
tournament have tough openers, highlighting the quality of the elite
field.
Cameron Pilley takes on world number six Gregory Gaultier of France,
while Aaron Frankcomb is up against seventh-seeded Englishman Peter
Barker.
Four-time Australian Open champion Stewart Boswell will take on Indian
number one Saurav Ghosal, and if he wins that clash he will most likely
face second seed Ramy Ashour of Egypt in the second round.
Top-seeded Englishman Nick Matthew opens his title defence with a
testing clash against South African Stephen Coppinger, who won
Brisbane's Hibiscus Gardens Open in April, ahead of a probable second
round clash against Malaysia's Ong Beng Hee.
Ashour plays a qualifier in the first round, as does third seed and
fellow Egyptian Karim Darwish, while fourth-ranked Englishman James
Willstrop plays fellow countryman Chris Ryder.
1st round draw:
[1] Nick Matthew (ENG) v Stephen Coppinger (RSA)
Ong Beng Hee (MAS) v Qualifier
Nicolas Mueller (SUI) v Julian Illingworth (USA)
[8] Thierry Lincou (FRA) v Laurens Jan Anjema (NED)