Defending Champ Ashour Withdraws From NetSuite Open With Hamstring Injury by Blake Rhodes September 6, 2014 -SAN FRANCISCO
— Defending NetSuite Open Squash championship Ramy Ashour, who is
currently ranked No. 4, has withdrawn from this month’s
tournament in San Francisco due to a hamstring injury Event Engine,
Inc. announced today. Four-time world champion Amr Shabana, who is
currently ranked No. 5, is now the second seed in the NetSuite Open
field behind world No. 1 Gregory Gaultier.
“I am very
disappointed that I will not be able to play in the NetSuite Open this
year due to my ongoing hamstring injury,” said Ashour. “I enjoy playing
at the spectacular location on the amazing San Francisco bay and
hopefully next year I will be a part of this spectacular growing event
again. Good luck to all of my colleagues.”
France’s Gregoire
Marche, who is currently ranked 26th on the PSA Tour, has been added to
NetSuite Open field and will face his countryman Gaultier on Friday,
September 26 at San Francisco’s South Lawn of Justin Herman Plaza.
“We wish Ramy the best
in his recovery and will certainly miss him, but we’re very excited
about some of the great matches we’ll have in San Francisco,” said John
Nimick, a U.S. Squash Hall of Famer and President of Event Engine,
Inc., the tournament producer. “Our opening night match between Gregory
and Gregoire will attract significant attention in both San Francisco
and Aix En Provence – their hometown in France.”
Marche advanced to the
second round of the Hong Kong Open last weekend. The 24-year-old owns
an 86-60 lifetime record over his seven-year career on the PSA Tour.
The first round matches on September 26 will be held at the following locations:
· No. 5 Amr Shabana (Egypt) vs. Qualifier – Glass Court, 7:45 p.m.
·
No. 8 Peter Barker (England) vs. No. 58 Julian Illingworth (USA) – Bay
Club, 6:00 p.m.
· No. 14 Miguel Angel Rodriguez (Colombia) vs. Qualifier – Stanford, 8:00 p.m.
· No. 15 Laurens Jan Anjema (Netherlands) vs. Qualifier – Stanford, 6:00 p.m.
·
No. 19 Mathieu Castagnet (France) vs. No. 24 Alister Walker (Botswana)
– Bay Club, 5:00 p.m.
·
No. 20 Cameron Pilley (Australia) vs. No. 23 Chris Simpson (England) –
Stanford, 7:00 p.m.
· No. 22 Adrian Grant (England) vs. Qualifier – Glass Court, 8:30 p.m.
The 12 players in the
main draw will be joined by four qualifiers who will advance from a
field of 16 that will compete in the qualifying rounds Sept. 24-25 at
the Bay Club, Olympic Club and University Club. Below is a rundown of
the first round matches on Friday, Sept. 26:
About Event Engine Event Engine, Inc. is
a visionary event and entertainment marketing company specializing in
the creation of unique athletic, musical, corporate and philanthropic
events in extraordinary venues. Founded in 2000 by US Squash Hall
of Fame member John Nimick, Event Engine has grown from the management
of a single, but unique, annual professional squash championship in
Grand Central Terminal to a portfolio of successful events in some of
the best known locations in North America and with some of the
best-known entertainment celebrities in the world. The Event
Engine mission is to provide an unparalleled, highly valuable, highest
quality result for clients, customer and corporate partners.
Event Engine is part of the Welldone Group, a global sports and
entertainment agency based in Frankfurt, Germany.
About the NetSuite Open
The NetSuite Open
Squash Championships return to San Francisco’s South Lawn of Justin
Herman Plaza on an all-glass portable squash court for the third year
September 24-30, 2014. Sanctioned by the Professional Squash
Association, the PSA International 70 NetSuite Open is one of the top
15 professional tournaments in the world as determined by prize money.
Some 450 reserved
seats are available for the NetSuite Open, ranging in price from $30 to
$250. For tickets, draws, schedule and more information, please visit
www.NetSuiteOpenSquash.com. Follow the NetSuite Open on Facebook and
Twitter.
NOTE: NetSuite and the
NetSuite logo are service marks of NetSuite Inc. Third-party trademarks
mentioned are the property of their respective owners.
