Gawad heads a strong field for Qatar Classic squash

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Bengaluru, September 26: Despite the ongoing political crisis, the Qatar Classic tournament will go ahead as per schedule with the Professional Squash Association (PSA) confirming the dates.

As per a PSA notification, the World Series tournament will be held from October 29 to November 3 at the Khalifa International Tennis & Squash Complex.

Karim Abdel Gawad is the defending champion of the $165,000 prize-money tournament. He had defeated Mohamed El Shorbay in an all-Egyptian final last year.

With some countries snapping dilpmatic ties with Qatar from June, there was some uncertainty as to whether the tournament will go on as per schedule.

The decks have been cleared now with the official PSA draw.

France's world No.1 Gregory Gaultier, 2009 champion Nick Matthew of England and Egyptian sentimental favourite Ramy Ashour are some of the other big names to have confirmed their entries for the tournament while local challenge wil be led by Abdullah Al Tamimi, who has been given a wild-card entry for the fifth year in a row.

In addition to the lucrative prize money, players will also earn points for the World Series Standings, where only the top eight players will qualify for the PSA World Series Finals to be held in June, 2018.