Ramy Set For Third Qatar Crown by Howard Harding 11 September 2013
- Egypt's world number one Ramy Ashour is seeded to win his third major
squash title in the Qatar capital Doha in November's long-established
Qatar Classic, the seventh PSA World Series event of the year.
The $150,000 Qatar
Classic will take place at the Khalifa International Tennis &
Squash Complex from 10-15 November, following two days of qualifying.
It was in 2007 that
the then 19-year-old Ashour celebrated his first appearance in the
Qatar Classic main draw by winning his fourth Tour title of the year
after upsetting Australian David Palmer in the final.
Last December, at the
PSA World Championship on the same Doha courts, Ashour completed the
year which saw him return to the top of the world rankings in January
by beating Mohamed Elshorbagy in a 90-minute all-Egyptian final. The
triumph marked Ashour's second world title and his fifth Tour trophy of
2012.
Ashour faces Qatari
wild card Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi in the opening round. The 18-year-old
from Doha is the rising star of Qatar squash. Coached by squash legend
Geoff Hunt, Al Tamimi became the country's first ever semi-finalist in
the world junior championships, earlier this year in Poland.
Ashour is drawn in the
same half as third seed James Willstrop, the former world number one
from England - and is expected to line up against France's world number
two Gregory Gaultier in the final.
Gaultier, the 2011
champion, opens his account against German star Simon Rosner in a
repeat of this month's European Championship final. The second-seeded
Frenchman is expected to meet England's Nick Matthew, the No4 seed and
winner of the title in 2009, in the semi-finals.
But both Willstrop and
Matthew have tough openers - Willstrop against the Spanish number one
Borja Golan, winner of his 28th Tour title earlier this year, and
Matthew taking on former compatriot Alister Walker, the Botswana number
one who is ranked 15 in the world.
2013 Qatar Classic 1st round draw: [1] Ramy Ashour (EGY) v [WC] Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi (QAT) Daryl Selby (ENG) v Qualifier Laurens Jan Anjema (NED) v Qualifier [6] Mohamed Elshorbagy (EGY) v Tarek Momen (EGY) [5] Karim Darwish (EGY) v Qualifier Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) v Qualifier Omar Mosaad (EGY) v Ong Beng Hee (MAS) [3] James Willstrop (ENG) v Borja Golan (ESP) [4] Nick Matthew (ENG) v Alister Walker (BOT) Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL) v Qualifier Stephen Coppinger (RSA) v Qualifier [8] Amr Shabana (EGY) v Saurav Ghosal (IND) [7] Peter Barker (ENG) v Nicolas Mueller (SUI) Tom Richards (ENG) v Qualifier Cameron Pilley (AUS) v Qualifier [2] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) v Simon Rosner (GER)
