Willstrop Top Seed in New China Event by Nathan Clarke July 13, 2014
- English World No.6 James Willstrop, one of the biggest names in world
squash, will top the draw when the 2014 China Open - Squash Stars On
The Bund, gets underway in the Chinese city of Shanghai on September 4.
The PSA International
70 tournament, the most prestigious squash tournament ever to be held
in China, is set to take place in the spectacular setting of The
Peninsula Shanghai from September 4 - 7, with the 11th floor venue
offering breath-taking views of Shanghai and it's famous waterfront -
The Bund.
Willstrop, who held
the World No.1 ranking throughout most of 2012, will be favourite to
land the title and claim what would be his first PSA World Tour title
since the 2013 Canary Wharf Classic but he will face tough competition
from fellow English Commonwealth Games competitors Peter Barker and
Daryl Selby, the World No.8 and No.10, respectively and the most
successful player in Spanish history, World No.7 Borja Golan.
"It's very exciting to
have a new event come on to the tour and I'm really looking forward to
playing the 2014 China Open," said Willstrop, a two-time Commonwealth
Games silver-medalist.
"The venue looks
amazing and everything around the tournament looks like it will be top
class and for a new event at such a high level to come onto the circuit
makes it even more exciting for us as players.
"It's very important
for the sport to bring new events on to the tour and we don't often get
new competitions starting out at this level.
"San Francisco was the
last tournament to start at this level and it has been building well
for the last two years, with the sport growing well on the West Coast
of America, so hopefully we can begin something similar in Shanghai
this year."
With the sport
currently experiencing unprecedented growth across Asia, the 2014 China
Open will expose citizens of one of the country's most influential
cities to world class squash in what promises to be an exhilarating
tournament from start to finish.
"China is an area that
we really need to tap into," added Willstrop, who will begin his
campaign against Chinese wild card Junjie Wang. "It's an untapped
country for squash and a huge mover in world sport and hopefully this
event will help us kickstart something across Asia.
"There are some great
established venues on the PSA World Tour at present and I'm sure
Shanghai will prove to be another great addition.
"For me personally, I
will hopefully get some good match-play momentum from the upcoming
Commonwealth Games to take into the start of the PSA World Tour season
and hopefully get off to a good start."
"It is very exciting
to see these great players convening in Shanghai for the China Open,"
said Franco Amadei, tournament promoter from SECA World.
"This is a squash
premiere also for us at SECA, but we are fully committed to providing
the players with the best possible environment in and out of the court
at The Peninsula Shanghai and we wish them to play at their top and
enjoy being the Stars on The Bund!"
2014 China Open - Squash Stars On The Bund: Main Draw:
[1] James Willstrop (ENG) v [WC] Junjie Wang (CHN) [Qualifier] v [8] Marwan Elshorbagy (EGY) [5] Omar Mosaad (EGY) v [Qualifier] Cameron Pilley (AUS) v [4] Daryl Selby (ENG) [3] Peter Barker (ENG) v Max Lee (HKG) [Qualifier] v [7] Saurav Ghosal (IND) [6] Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) v Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) [Qualifier] v [2] Borja Golan (ESP)
