Alan Clyne (left) from Scotland in action against Farhan Zaman of Pakistan in the qualifying rounds of the Qatar Classic 2016 at the Khalifa International Squash Complex in Dohe yesterday. Picture by: Kammutty VP/The Peninsula
Defending champion Mohamed El Shorbagy will look to capture his third successive Qatar Classic crown when the third stage on the PSA Road to Dubai gets under way at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex in Doha here today.
The Egyptian after triumphing at the prestigious World Series title in 2013 and 2015 will look to make it a hat-trick of titles in Doha
The World No.1 currently sits atop the PSA Road to Dubai Standings after winning the US Open last month, and is closely followed by World Champion Karim Abdel Gawad, whose final appearance at August’s Hong Kong Open acted as a springboard to his ascent to World Champion just last week in Cairo.
Some of the sport’s biggest names, such as three-time World Champion Nick Matthew, former World No.1 James Willstrop and World No.4 Omar Mosaad, are also in attendance during what promises to be a top-class week of action.
Only the top eight on the 2016/17 PSA Road to Dubai Standings will earn a coveted berth at the iconic end of season Dubai PSA World Series Finals, so it will be all to play for in Qatar, where vital points are up for grabs.
Only the top eight players on the PSA Road to Dubai Standings will qualify for June’s Dubai World Series Finals, and it is currently World No.1 El Shorbagy who leads the way with 115 points after his success in Philadelphia at the U.S. Open last month.
The Egyptian powerhouse, who also topped last year’s standings, began the season in inauspicious style with a surprise quarter-final exit to Australian No.1 Cameron Pilley in the Hong Kong Open – the first stage on the PSA Road to Dubai – but bounced back to defeat England’s Nick Matthew in the final of the U.S. Open to surge to the summit.
El Shorbagy will aim to avoid yet another defeat to Pilley, the man who ended his charge at the 2016 Dubai PSA World Series Finals, when he takes on the World No.14 in the opening round in Doha.
World Champion Karim Abdel Gawad follows in second and the 25-year-old will look to continue his breathtaking form after lifting the sport’s biggest prize last week in Cairo.
Gawad defeated three-time winner Ramy Ashour in the 2016 PSA Men’s World Championship to become only the third Egyptian winner in the illustrious tournament’s history and he also reached a maiden World Series final in Hong Kong in August before losing out to Ashour.
