09-Sep:
Willstrop heads British
challenge for World Open
England’s James Willstrop has been seeded three in his
attempt to become the first British player to the win men’s World
Open title since Peter Nicol captured the sport’s Blue Riband event
in 1999.
The 25 year-old former World Junior Champion has enjoyed a stellar
12 months having reached eight PSA Tour finals and will go into the
nine day Championships which start on 11th October in the best form
of his life.
The Yorkshireman is joined by ten other British players in the main
draw and is set to meet Scotland's John White in the second
round and then his close friend and former World Number One, Lee
Beachill in the third round of the Championships, which will be
held at the National Squash Centre in Manchester’s Sportcity.
Sheffield’s Nick Matthew, Britain’s second highest seeded
player at Number 8, bounced back to form after a long injury lay off
with a brilliant victory in this weekend’s Forexx Dutch Open and is
set to meet young Egyptian squash sensation Ramy Ashour
(seeded 4) in the quarter finals.
Defending and three-time World Champion Amr Shabana is
seeded to regain his title and become only the fourth man after the
great Jansher Khan, Jahangir Khan and Geoff Hunt to win the World
Open for a fourth time.
France’s Gregory Gaultier, runner-up in the last two World
Opens, is seeded two while his compatriot and 2004 winner Thierry
Lincou has been seeded number four. Two-time winner David
Palmer (2006 and 2002) from Australia is the number five seed
and could meet Willstrop in the quarter finals in a repeat of their
epic British Open final in May.
There will be plenty of opportunity for the home crowds to cheer
their favourites, with London’s Peter Barker (seeded 12) and
Adrian Grant (seeded 14), joined by Joey Barrington –
son of six times British Open winner Jonah – Alister Walker
(Leeds), Chris Ryder (Wolverhampton) and Daryl Selby
(Witham) in the 64-man draw, while a wildcard has been given to 22
year-old Tom Richards from Walton-on-Thames.
Now a truly global game and pushing for Olympic inclusion having
been shortlisted for 2016, squash is played throughout the world and
the Hi-Tec World Squash Championships will see no fewer than 18
countries from 5 continents being represented in the main draw. The
countries are: England, Scotland, Egypt, Spain, Canada, France,
Malaysia, Australia, Mexico, Brazil, Pakistan, Columbia, Finland,
Czech Republic, Italy, United States, New Zealand and India.
 "Since
starting to organise these Championships it has been our aim to make
them the best ever staged.
"The men’s draw – which features the top 40 players in the world
rankings - is probably the strongest ever assembled for a squash
tournament and it’s fantastic that there will be interest from all
corners of the globe.”
Head of
Major Sports Events and Partnerships,
Manchester City Council
Full First Round Draw:
[1] Amr Shabana (Egy) v Qualifier
Borja Golan (Esp) v Shawn Delierre (Can)
[9] Wael El Hindi (Egy) v Qualifier
Omar Mosaad (Egy) v Qualifier
[6] Thierry Lincou (Fra) v Amr Swelim (Egy)
Renan Lavigne (Fra) v Qualifier
[10] Ong Beng Hee (Mas) v Tom Richards (Eng)
Hisham Ashour (Egy) v Chris Ryder (Eng)
[4] Ramy Ashour (Egy) v Qualifier
Cameron Pilley (Aus) v Qualifier
[12] Peter Barker (Eng) v Eric Galvez (Mex)
Joey Barrington (Eng) v Aaron Frankcomb (Aus)
[8] Nick Matthew (Eng) v Qualifier
Stewart Boswell (Aus) v Tarek Momen (Egy)
[15] Laurens Jan Anjema (Ned) v Rafael Alarcon (Bra)
Farhan Mehboob (Pak) v Julien Balbo (Fra)
Miguel Angel Rodriguez (Col) v Qualifier
[16] Olli Tuominen (Fin) v Daryl Selby (Eng)
Jonathan Kemp (Eng) v Jan Koukal (Cze)
[5] David Palmer (Aus) v Qualifier
Davide Bianchetti (Ita) v Qualifier
[13] Lee Beachill (Eng) v Qualifier
John White (Sco) v Mansoor Zaman (Pak)
[3] James Willstrop (Eng) v Qualifier
Alister Walker (Eng) v Julian Illingworth (Usa)
[11] Azlan Iskandar (Mas) v Kashif Shuja (Nzl)
Aamir Atlas Khan (Pak) v Qualifier
[7] Karim Darwish (Egy) v Qualifier
Mohammed Abbas (Egy) v Qualifier
[14] Adrian Grant (Eng) v Omar Abdel Aziz (Egy)
Shahier Razik (Can) v Saurav Ghosal (Ind)
[2] Gregory Gaultier (Fra) v Qualifier |
 "The
World Open is the biggest tournament for any player and there’s a
huge sense of anticipation around this year’s Championships.
"For me personally it will be extra special as it will be like
playing in my own back garden. The National Squash Centre is just an
hour from where I live and I’m extremely familiar with the court and
the place. As an English player you couldn’t ask for any more and
this will certainly be a highlight of my career.
"Manchester has an outstanding reputation for putting on top sports
events and has had a very busy year so it will be great to round it
off with The Hi-Tec World Squash Championships.
"I don’t think there’s a city anywhere else in the world that puts
so much into squash so it’s fitting they should be hosting the
biggest tournament in the calendar. Hopefully the event will provide
an inspiration for introducing a new audience to the sport."
 "It
was great to get back into action last week after nine months off. I
had a tear in the ligament in my shoulder and it was at least three
months before I could even hold a plate, so to win my first event
back is a real bonus. I’ll be competing in Paris later this month so
I’ll go into the Worlds with some decent games under my belt.
"Playing the World Championships in Manchester will be a fantastic
opportunity. I’ve enjoyed some decent success there having won the
National Championships. It will be great to get the home support
behind us and hopefully they will have plenty to cheer about."
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