ElShorbagy Tops Mouthwatering October World Championship Draw by Nathan Clarke
photos squashpics.com
September 27, 2016
- World No.1 Mohamed ElShorbagy faces a difficult journey if he is to
end his run of disappointments at the PSA Men’s World Championship
after the draw for this year’s event was released today (September 27).
ElShorbagy has twice lost out in the prestigious title decider - in
2012 and 2014 - and fell to a shock third round exit last season when
odds-on favourite for the trophy, and he faces a difficult task if he
is to end his losing streak this year.
The Egyptian is seeded to meet Cameron Pilley - the hard-hitting
Australian who halted ElShorbagy’s bids to win both the 2016 Dubai
World Series Finals and 2016 Hong Kong Open - in the third round.
Should the 25-year-old come through that battle, England’s James
Willstrop could lay in wait as a possible quarter-final opponent.
Willstrop produced one of the performances of the season last year when
he beat ElShorbagy 3-1 in that third round encounter and with Ali
Farag, Miguel Angel Rodriguez and the in-form Karim Abdel Gawad also
possible last eight opponents, ElShorbagy will have to be at his best
to reach a third World Championship final - with Nick Matthew seeded to
stand between him and the title-decider.
On the opposite side of the draw, defending champion Gregory Gaultier,
the Frenchman who ended his own World Championship hoodoo last year
having lost out in four previous finals, also faces a tough draw,
beginning with a first round match against New Zealand’s Paul Coll.
Coll has been ever improving during the past twelve months and will be
hoping to cause a huge first round shock, with the winner seeded to
meet Marwan ElShorbagy - who beat Gaultier to the Grasshopper Cup title
in April - in the quarter-finals.
Last year's World Championship runner-up Omar Mosaad, Mathieu Castagnet
and 2015 semi-finalist Tarek Momen are amongst the other big names in
the bottom half while one of the standout first round encounters will
see maverick Egyptian Ramy Ashour - the three-time World Champion who
beat ElShorbagy in both the 2012 and 2014 finals in two of the most
entertaining matches ever seen - lock horns with Mazen Hesham.
2016 PSA Men’s World Championship - First Round Draw:
[1] Mohamed ElShorbagy (EGY) v [Qualifier]
Lucas Serme (FRA) v Olli Tuominen (FIN)
Omar Abdel Meguid (EGY) v Nicolas Mueller (SUI)
Karim Ali Fathi (EGY) v [14] Cameron Pilley (AUS)
[10] Ali Farag (EGY) v Declan James (ENG)
James Willstrop (ENG) v [Qualifier]
Mohamed Reda (EGY) v [Qualifier]
[Qualifier] v [8] Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL)
[6] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) v [Qualifier]
Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY) v [Qualifier]
Chris Simpson (ENG) v [Qualifier]
Zahed Mohamed (EGY) v [16] Borja Golan (ESP)
[12] Simon Rösner (GER) v Diego Elias (PER)
Cesar Salazar (MEX) v [Qualifier]
Leo Au (HKG) v [Qualifier]
Campbell Grayson (NZL) v [4] Nick Matthew (ENG)
[3] Omar Mosaad (EGY) v [Qualifier]
Alan Clyne (SCO) v Nafiizwan Adnan (MAS)
Gregoire Marche (FRA) v [WC] Youssef Ibrahim (EGY)
Joe Lee (ENG) v [15] Fares Dessouky (EGY)
[9] Mathieu Castagnet (FRA) v [Qualifier]
Tom Richards (ENG) v Daryl Selby (ENG)
Greg Lobban (SCO) v Stephen Coppinger (RSA)
Mazen Hesham (EGY) v [5] Ramy Ashour (EGY)
[7] Marwan ElShorbagy (EGY) v Raphael Kandra (GER)
Max Lee (HKG) v [Qualifier]
Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi (QAT) v [Qualifier]
[Qualifier] v [11] Tarek Momen (EGY)
[13] Ryan Cuskelly (AUS) v [Qualifier]
Tsz Fung Yip (HKG) v [Qualifier]
Saurav Ghosal (IND) v Adrian Waller (ENG)
Paul Coll (NZL) v [2] Gregory Gaultier (FRA)
The 2016 Men's PSA World Championship takes place from October 25 -
November 4 at the Wadi Degla Club, Cairo with tickets to the tournament
available for free when purchasing a day pass to the venue, costing
from $5.
