Shabana Guns for British Open with Stortford Shootout by Alan Thatcher March 10, 2014
- EGYPTIAN maestro Amr Shabana is combining his two great loves –
squash and golf – in an amazing bid to land the British Open title in
May.
The four times world
champion will fly to England ahead of his normal big-tournament
schedule for his own two-day event at Bishops Stortford Squash Club in
Hertfordshire where he’ll take on three of his biggest rivals, Essex
pair Daryl Selby and Peter Barker, and hard-hitting Aussie No.1 Cameron
Pilley.
The Shabana Stortford
Shootout on May 8th and 9th will be Shabs’ first ever exhibition
tournament in England and will be the hottest ticket in squash as fans
flock to watch the star-studded line-up.
But the action will
not be confined to the squash court. Shabana, like many of his PSA
colleagues, is a golf nut and he’ll be heading for the greens at the
Romford Golf Club in Essex for a shootout of a different kind.
World number 10 Daryl Selby has helped organise the unique event and explained how the plan was hatched.
“Shabs’ and I were
chatting at the Tournament of Champions in New York earlier this year
and we were recalling a brilliant exhibition evening we did together in
Aberdeen a few years back,” said Daryl. “Amr was sensational that night
and the fans absolutely adored him.
“He has never played
in that sort of event in England so we decided to prepare for the
British Open by putting on our own tournament here. But we couldn’t
just stage a regular exhibition event so we have come up with the
Shabana Stortford Shootout over two nights to give fans the chance to
see four of the world’s best in action on their own doorstep.”
All four players will also take their competitive nature on the golf course where the rivalry will be equally intense.
“Shabs
loves his golf, “ added Daryl. “ He only started playing three years
ago but he has become addicted to it. He’s down to about 16 handicap
but he might be a bit of a bandit and can play lower. Strangely, he
plays right handed, unlike his squash. That’s the opposite to me. I
play squash right-handed and golf left. It should make for some
interesting competition.”
Fans not only get the chance to see the stars, they can get on court – and the golf course – against their heroes.
The promoters are
offering some amazing sponsor packages that include squash and golf
showdowns with the players, tournament branding, limited edition
tournament merchandise and VIP tickets.
For full details of tickets and sponsorship packages your can contact Karen Selby at
Karen@offthewallsquash.co.uk or andrewmulvey@stortfordsquash.co.uk
