Ghosal drawn against Willstrop in squash worlds

Bengaluru/Manchester, November 23: India's Saurav Ghosal faces a tough task after being drawn against former world No.1 James Willstrop in the opening round of Professional Squash Association (PSA) World Championships to be held in Manchester from December 8 to 17.

Ghosal and Willstrop have trained together at Glasgow for a while and the match between the two promises to be an exciting one.

After the draw of lost was done by PSA yesterday (November 22), three-time world champion Ramy Ashour and current world No.3 Mohamed El Shorbagy, could clash as early as third round in what could be termed as a monumental encounter.

Ashour had defeated El Shorbagy twice (2012 and 2014, both in Doha) in two of the greatest PSA World Championship finals of all time.

Having won five of the last six events he has played, including back-to-back wins at the Qatar Classic and Hong Kong Open PSA World Series events this month, El Shorbagy will travel to Manchester as a firm favourite for the title where he will be hoping to make amends for his disappointing finishes in both the 2015 and 2016 edition of the tournament and finally add the sport's biggest title to his trophy cabinet

An added motivation for El Shorbagy will be the battle for the world No.1 spot, which he will reclaim if he makes it further than current numero uno Gregory Gaultier in the showpiece event.

The event will be held from December 8 to 13 at the National Squash Centre. The tournament moves to Manchester Central from the quarterfinal stage which starts on December 14.

A novel feature of the tournament this time is that for the first time in history, both men and women will compete for an equal prize money, with the winners set to take home a record total in excess of $45,000 each.

In the women's draw, India's Dipika Pallikal Karthik has been drawn against USA's Olivia Blatchford while her compatriot Joshna Chinappa is up against Egypt's Salma Hany Ibrahim.

Meanwhile, defending champion Nour El Sherbini will be aiming to become just the fourth player of all-time alongside Nicol David, Sarah Fitz-Gerald and Michelle Martin to win three consecutive World Championship titles and will begin her title defence against Australian Donna Urquhart.

THE DRAW

MEN

[1] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) v Ivan Yuen (MAS)
Tsz Fung Yip (HKG) v [Qualifier]
Declan James (ENG) v [Qualifier]
Tom Richards (ENG) v [16] Cesar Salazar (MEX)
[14] Daryl Selby (ENG) v [Qualifier]
Campbell Grayson (NZL) v [Qualifier]
Greg Lobban (SCO) v Raphael Kandra (GER)
Gregoire Marche (FRA) v [8] Paul Coll (NZL)
[5] Nick Matthew (ENG) v [Qualifier]
Max Lee (HKG) v [Qualifier]
Mathieu Castagnet (FRA) v Arturo Salazar (MEX)
Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi (QAT) v [11] Simon Rösner (GER)
[10] Ramy Ashour (EGY) v [WC] Joshua Masters (ENG)
Omar Mosaad (EGY) v [Qualifier]
Joel Makin (WAL) v [Qualifier]
Mazen Hesham (EGY) v [3] Mohamed ElShorbagy (EGY)
[4] Ali Farag (EGY) v Adrian Waller (ENG)
Mohamed Reda (EGY) v [Qualifier]
Karim Ali Fathi (EGY) v [Qualifier]
Cameron Pilley (AUS) v [15] Ryan Cuskelly (AUS)
[12] Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY) v Olli Tuominen (FIN)
Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL) v Leo Au (HKG)
Zahed Mohamed (EGY) v [Qualifier]
[Qualifier] v [7] Tarek Momen (EGY)
[6] Marwan ElShorbagy (EGY) v Omar Abdel Meguid (EGY)
Borja Golan (ESP) v Chris Simpson (ENG)
Lucas Serme (FRA) v [Qualifier]
[Qualifier] v [13] Diego Elias (PER)
[9] James Willstrop (ENG) v Saurav Ghosal (IND)
Nafiizwan Adnan (MAS) v [Qualifier]
Alan Clyne (SCO) v [Qualifier]
Nicolas Mueller (SUI) v [2] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY)

WOMEN

[1] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) v Donna Urquhart (AUS)
[Qualifier] v [12] Emily Whitlock (ENG)
[10] Alison Waters (ENG) v [Qualifier]
Mariam Metwally (EGY) v [5] Nouran Gohar (EGY)
[8] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) v Joey Chan (HKG)
Salma Hany Ibrahim (EGY) v [14] Joshna Chinappa (IND)
[16] Tesni Evans (WAL) v [Qualifier]
[Qualifier] v [4] Laura Massaro (ENG)
[3] Camille Serme (FRA) v [Qualifier]
Dipika Pallikal Karthik (IND) v [13] Olivia Blatchford (USA)
[9] Joelle King (NZL) v [Qualifier]
Millie Tomlinson (ENG) v [7] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG)
[6] Nicol David (MAS) v [WC] Jenny Duncalf (ENG)
[Qualifier] v [11] Annie Au (HKG)
[15] Victoria Lust (ENG) v Fiona Moverley (ENG)
[Qualifier] v [2] Raneem El Welily (EGY)